


of all the things my hands have touched (the best so far is you)

by Dontfloatthe100



Category: The Pinkertons (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family Drama, I've been writing this for literally a year I actually hate myself, Smut, enjoy you weirdos the show is cancelled get a life, fake marriage au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-26 13:02:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15663750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dontfloatthe100/pseuds/Dontfloatthe100
Summary: “If there is such a thing as marriage, it takes place long before the ceremony; in a car on the way to the airport; or as a gray bedrooms fills with dawn, one lover watching the other; or as two strangers stand together in the rain with no bus in sight, arms weighed down with shopping bags. You don't know then. But later you realize - that was the moment.”-Simon Van Booy





	of all the things my hands have touched (the best so far is you)

**Author's Note:**

> HOLY FUCK IT'S FINALLY DONE I AM SO TIRED but all seriousness this fic is sort of life my love letter to the show and the time I've spent writing for this show and to all of the people who've continued to read my fics. I love you all so much and I joke around a lot but you guys have always supported me and continued to be as invested in this show as I have. Currently, I'm writing a research paper on the Pinkerton National Detective Agency and I plan on writing a biography on Kate Warne one day. I'm not saying that this is officially my last fic, but this was always meant to be a goodbye. I may one day return but for now I'm taking a break and going out with one last bang. I love you all so much. Continue to be amazing, to write and research and grow. 
> 
> Best,  
> Em

Will walked through the front door of the farmhouse, carrying a few letters in his hands. He kicked the door closed behind him and walked over to the table, putting the letters down.    
  
"Kate! You here?" Will asked.   
  
"Yes, I'm in the kitchen! I'll be out in a moment!" Kate called.    
  
Will took off his coat and draped it over the back of his chair. He then removed his gloves, stuffed them in his pockets, and sat down.   
  
A moment later, Kate walked into the room carrying her China tea set. She set a cup down for herself and gestured to the other, asking if he wanted some.   
  
"Yeah, I'll have one. Thank you," Will said, smiling.   
  
She poured the tea and sat down in her seat. She then noticed the letters piled near Will's left arm. "What's all that?"   
  
"I went to the Post Office and picked up my mail. They gave me yours, too."   
  
Kate raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound legal, giving mail out to someone else besides the recipient."   
  
"Yeah, well it's Kansas City, they're not too concerned with the law."   
  
Kate took a sip of her tea. "Well, if they were, we'd be out of a job, now wouldn't we?"   
  
"I guess we would," he said, handing her her mail.   
  
She looked through them. One letter was from some mail order catalogue; she tossed it aside. Another was in regards to the recent male/female agent partnership that she had set up and facilitated in St. Louis; she put it aside for later. The last was addressed to her from Ithaca, New York. She stiffened.   
  
Will looked up at her. "Mostly junk, I got a letter from my mother, though. What about you?"   
  
"I... I got a letter from my parents in Ithaca," she said, almost in awe.   
  
"What? Really? I thought you said you weren't close with them."   
  
"I'm not..." Kate said. She took the letter opener off the table and ripped open the envelope. Almost immediately, she smelled the vanilla that permeated the scented stationery. She grimaced and opened up the letter.   
  
She scanned it quickly, her eyebrows knitted in concern.    
  
"What is it? What did they say?"    
  
"My youngest sister, she's getting married on the family farm. They're... they're inviting me to the wedding."   
  
Will smiled. "Well, that's good news, isn't it?"   
  


“I haven't seen them in 10 years, not since before I joined the Pinkertons. We didn't exactly part on the best of terms,” Kate said. She bit her lip and looked away.

 

“Well, why don't I come with you? I could be your backup if they try anything,” Will said, surprised as the words left his mouth. 

 

“I don’t think my parents will take too kindly to me bringing home a man I'm not married to,” Kate said, her tone full of mirth.

 

“So we just tell them we're married. Problem solved,” Will said. Mentally, he berated himself. He sounded like a lovesick idiot, which he sort of was, but that was beside the point. 

 

“You think you can keep that ruse up for a week? Come on, Will, this is ridiculous,” Kate said as she took a sip of her tea. 

 

“Think of it as undercover work, just like we're used to,” Will said. 

 

Kate was silent for a moment. “You really want to do this?” 

 

“Of course. What are parents for if we don't back each other up?” 

 

Kate laughed, his persistence having worn her down. "How do I know this isn't just a ploy to learn more about me than I'm willing to tell you?"    
  
"Very perceptive, Mrs. Warne. You've figured me out," Will joked. "But seriously, we're partners. I want to be there for you."    
  
She reached across the table and took his hand in hers. "Thank you, Will."   
  
"Anytime, Kate. Seriously."   
  


* * *

  
  
Kate sent a letter back confirming that she would be attending, and notifying her parents of the presence of a plus one. This letter was the third she had sent to them in over ten years. She tried not to feel too guilty about that.   
  
The date of the wedding approached swiftly, and Kate and Will worked in their free time to figure out their story.   
  
"Remember," Kate stated, "that we're going to stick as close to the truth as possible."   
  
"Right, so we were assigned to Kansas City and my father made us the first male/female agent partnership. We solved a few crimes, put away some bad guys, fell in love in the process," Will said, moving his food around his plate. They had decided to discuss the final story over dinner at the farmhouse, the night before they would leave for Ithaca.   
  
"Right. We decided to elope, which is why I never invited my family to the wedding. Finally, after much convincing, Allan Pinkerton decided to let us stay partners, and we're still partners to this day. Are we missing anything?"   
  
"I don't think so... Oh wait, wedding rings! I can't believe we forgot!"   
  
Kate put out a finger gesturing for him to wait. She walked over to her room, rummaged around in her jewelry box for a moment, before producing an engagement ring, and two wedding rings.    
  
"Where'd you get those?" Will asked.   
  
"They belonged to my grandparents. We'll just say that we wanted to use family heirlooms for sentimental purposes," Kate said, before gesturing for Will to stick out his hand. She grabbed the larger of the two wedding rings and slipped it on to his ring finger.    
  
"Are you sure you want to use them for this?" Will asked, uncertain.   
  
"Of course I'm sure. I wouldn't have taken them out otherwise." Kate said.    
  
She took the engagement ring, then the wedding ring, and slipped them onto her own finger one by one. She looked at Will.   
  
"It suits you," she remarked lightly. She moved to sit down.   
  
"Thanks, I think."   
  
Kate smiled and continued to eat her dinner.    
  


* * *

  
  
The next morning, they stood together at the train station, waiting for the 11:30 to Chicago.    
  
"Are you sure you want to go? You can always back out," Kate said, looking up at Will.   
  
"Kate, it'll be fine. Trust me," Will said. He put down his suitcase for a moment, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.   
  
"Yeah, you're right. I'm being stupid."   
  
Just then, the shrill sound of a train whistle was heard throughout the platform. Will removed his arm and picked up his suitcase, just as everyone who was boarding that train rushed forward. The train grinded to a halt and the doors were opened. Kate and Will pushed past the crowd and entered the train, quickly finding two empty seats next to each other.    
  
The train ride would take six hours, and then they would take a train from a Chicago station with sleeper compartments to a station just outside of Ithaca. With this journey in mind, Kate brought a book, and then an extra one for Will, who she knew would forget one and then complain about being bored.    
  
They settled in and stowed their luggage under their seats. Kate reached in her bag and pulled out her book.   
  
"Oh shit, I forgot something to do on the train! Now what am I gonna do for 6 hours?" Will said, as soon as he saw her book.   
  
Kate smiled and reached back in her bag and pulled out the other one. Kate gave him a smirk and Will frowned indignantly, but took the book anyways.    
  
The old woman who sat across from them smiled, having watched the whole encounter.   
  
"You two are just too precious. How long have you been married?" she asked kindly, her voice slightly raspy.   
  
"Oh no, we're not--"   
  
"A few months now. How long has it been, Kate?" Will asked, wearing a smirk.

 

"Uh, about six, dear," Kate said, only faltering slightly.    
  
"Well you remind me of my husband and I, back when we were your age," the woman said, and returned to her needlework project.   
  
Kate smiled, and spoke to Will out of the corner of her mouth. "What the hell was that about?"   
  
"Getting into character. We're gonna have to spend a week with your family, we may as well get in a little practice."   
  
"You're ridiculous."   
  
"You're only saying that because I'm right."    
  
Kate scowled and opened her book. Will smirked and opened his.   
  


* * *

  
  
They got off in Chicago and switched to a sleeper compartment train and got settled. It got dark sooner that time of year, and soon enough streaks of moonlight shown through the window of the train as it sped towards their destination.    
  
Kate was sitting next to Will, her eyelids becoming heavy. Ever so often, she had to shake herself awake.   
  
This did not go unnoticed by Will, especially when she finally dozed off and leaned her head on his shoulder in her sleep. He considered waking her up, but he decided to wait just a few minutes. Kate hardly ever looked as unburdened as she did when she was asleep. The worry lines that were usually present on her face smoothed out, and she looked younger.    
  
After a minute or two, he gently shook her awake.   
  
"Hmm, what's wrong?" Kate asked, her voice raspy with sleep.   
  
"Nothing, you just dozed off. Why don't you go to bed? You can take the bottom, it's closer."   
  
She smiled at him, and climbed into bed. He got up to join her soon, climbing up the ladder to the top bed. He listened to Kate's breaths become even and deep, and was lulled to sleep himself.   
  


* * *

  
  
Kate woke him up about an hour before they were supposed to arrive in New York. They got dressed and gathered their things, and soon enough, they were exiting the train onto the platform. Kate had arranged for a stagecoach to take them into Ithaca, as it was about an hour and a half away by foot.   
  
In the stagecoach, Kate decided that she should go over who's in her family with Will, just to prepare him.   
  
"So there's my mother, Margaret and my father, Nicholas," Kate said, and Will nodded his comprehension.   
  
"I have two sisters and two brothers. Mary is the oldest, followed by Tom. Virgil, I've mentioned him before, is the closest to my age, only a year older. Caroline is the youngest, she's the one getting married."   
  
"Oh G-d," Will muttered, sure that he would lose track of all the names.   
  
"You'll do fine," she said.    
  
Soon enough, they arrived at the farm. They took their luggage down from the top of the stagecoach and paid the driver. Will then took in his surroundings. The land stretched out in all directions, and was mostly barren on account of it being autumn. There was a grove of trees to the left, their branches heavy with apples. In the middle of it all, down a small dirt road was a large white farmhouse, not dissimilar to Kate's back in Kansas City. Behind the house was a red barn, and Will could see chickens milling about in front of it.    
  
Beside him, Will heard Kate take a deep breath and let it out slowly. He turned to her.   
  
"Hey, it'll be fine. They'll be happy to see you," he assured her.   
  
"Yeah, yeah you're right."    
  
They both picked up their suitcases and walked to the front of the house. Kate placed her's down and lifted a hand to rap sharply on the front door. A moment or two later, an older woman with gray streaked hair and warm brown eyes opened the door. Will didn't have to be a genius to know that she was Kate's mother.    
  
"Katie," she whispered, slightly in awe.   
  
"Hi, Ma," Kate whispered back. Almost immediately, she was pulled into a crushing hug. Kate let out a little grunt, but she returned the hug all the same. Will felt as if he shouldn't be watching, it seemed like too private a moment.   
  
After a minute or two, Mrs. Warne pulled away from her daughter. "I can't believe you came," Mrs. Warne said, running her fingers through Kate's hair. "I thought the invitation was a long shot, but you're here."   
  
"Yeah, Ma, I'm here. I wouldn't miss little Carrie's wedding for the world."

 

Mrs. Warne smiled at Kate again, before finally noticing Will standing next to her.   
  
"Kate, I think you have someone to introduce me to," she said in a tone that reminded Will of his own mother.   
  
"Oh yes. Ma, this is William Pinkerton, my... husband. Will, this is my mother."   
  
"Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Warne," Will said, extending a hand for her to shake.   
  
She ignored his hand, instead pulling him into a hug. Will let out a tiny, surprised sound, and awkwardly patted her on the back. Kate watched the scene with an amused smile.   
  
"Please, call me Marge," Kate's mom said, pulling away from Will.   
  
"Well, uh, pleased to me you, Marge," Will said, sounding slightly overwhelmed.   
  
"The pleasure is all mine, Will. It's not every day you meet your new son-in-law. Oh, come on in, you two. Everyone else is inside," Marge said, before turning around and leading them into the house. Will and Kate looked at each other, each giving the other an encouraging smile, and followed after her.   
  
She led them into what looked like the living room, where everyone was congregated. From the hallway, Will could hear the excited chattering of small children. When they entered the room, however, it became dead silent. Will looked out into the crowd of people, and then over at Kate, who was chewing her lip anxiously.   
  
An older man, Kate's father, stood up from the couch and walked over to Kate. She stared up at him nervously and for a moment all he did was stare back. Then, just as Will started to think that this could go on forever, he pulled her into a tight hug. She returned it, and buried her face in his chest.    
  
"I missed you, Katie," her father whispered, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Kate nodded, seemingly beyond words.

 

A woman with a severe expression stepped forward and enveloped Kate in a tight hug. “Ten years, Kate! Ten years without word!” she whispered harshly.

 

“I missed you too, Mary,” Kate said, pulling away from her sister. 

 

Next a tall, dark-haired man stepped forward and Kate smiled brightly. “Virgil!”

 

“How ya’ doing, Katie?” Virgil asked, an easygoing smile gracing his handsome features. Will was suddenly reminded of a story Kate had told him about her brother and a goat. 

 

Suddenly, Kate heard a small voice below her. 

“Papa, who is this?”

 

Virgil knelt down next to the child. “Lisa, this here is your Aunty Kate. Kate, this is my daughter, Lisa.”

 

Kate knelt down and extended her hand. "Hi, Lisa," she said, smiling. Will suddenly remembered Freddy, the little boy who was traveling around with his abusive mother and Mr. Hufnagel. Kate had been so motherly to him, even if she hated to admit it, and he could see flashes of it from time to time, including just then.   
  
"Why have I never met you before? I know Aunt Mary and Aunty Caroline, but not you," the little girl said. The other children, two boys and another girl, nodded in agreement.   
  
"I've been away for a while, but I'm back now," she said lightly. "Can you introduce me to your friends there?"   
  
"Well, this is my sister, Annie," Lisa said, pointing to the other girl.   
  
"This is Aunt Mary's son, Jack," Lisa said, pointing to the little blonde boy, who waved at Kate.   
  
"And this is Uncle Tom's son, Cal," Lisa said, pointing to a dark haired boy who looked about three.   
  
Mary nudged the man sitting near her on the couch. He stood up and they both walked over to Kate.    
  
"Kate, you remember my husband, James?" Mary said.   
  
"Of course, it's good to see you again," Kate said, smiling.    
  
"Likewise," James said, before moving to tend to Jack.   
  
The last two women who were sitting on the couch stood up and introduced themselves to Kate.    
  
"I'm Tom's wife, Susan. Nice to meet you," the darker haired woman said, smiling warmly.   
  
"Myra, Virgil's wife. Pleased to finally meet you," the other woman said.   
  
"Glad to finally meet you both," Kate said, looking about as overwhelmed as Will felt. There were so many people and so many names, he wasn't sure how he was going to keep track of them all.   
  
"Well," Virgil said, "Now that you've gotten acquainted with all of us, I think there's someone who you need to introduce."   
  
Kate looked back to Will and gave him a small smile. "Everyone, this is my husband, William Pinkerton. Will, this is everyone."   
  
A chorus of hello's and how are you's was heard throughout the room. "Pleased to meet you all. Kate's told me so much about you," he said. A lie, but they didn't need to know that.   
  
"Pinkerton, was it? I'm assuming you have some relation to Allan Pinkerton, seeing as you work for him," Mary commented.   
  
"Yes, he's my father."    
  
"Must be tough, having the best special agent in the country as your father," Tom commented.   
  
"Oh, you have no idea," Will said, and everyone laughed. Will immediately felt less on edge.    
  
"As much as I would love to know what you've been up to these past ten years, and how you two met, I think you need some time to settle in. You can use Kate's old room. Lunch is in an hour," Marge said, and Kate nodded. They gathered their things, and walked up the staircase towards Kate's room.    
  
Kate's room was to the left of the staircase and down a short hallway. She opened the door slowly, as if she was about to walk in on someone.    
  
The room was on the smaller side, only a little bit larger than Kate's room back in Kansas City. The bed was a twin, and it had what looked like a homemade quilt on it. She had a chest of drawers across from her bed, with a mirror hanging behind it. On the chest sat a music box, a few Frontier Desperados books (Kate's guilty pleasure apparently since childhood), and a sea shell. A rocking chair sat in the corner of the room.   
  
"So this is your childhood bedroom," Will said, putting his suitcase down.   
  
"Yes, this is it," she said.   
  
"Well, I have to say, I thought I'd learn a lot more about you from this room."   
  
"Shouldn't you know that I'm never that transparent?"   
  
"Rookie mistake, it won't happen again."   
  
They put their suitcases in the corner of the room and sat together on the bed. Just then, Will noticed a framed photograph sitting on her bedside table. He picked it up carefully. It was of the family. Kate's parents stood behind everyone, their children lined up together in front. Kate looked younger, but not happier. Will noticed her smile wasn't as wide as the rest of her family's, and it didn't seem to reach her eyes.    
  
"Kate, when was this taken?" Will asked.   
  
"Right before I left," she said.    
  
Will took note of her melancholy tone. "Hey, are you okay?"   
  
"I don't know, I mean, seeing my nieces and nephews, knowing that they have no idea who I am, I feel like I've been away too long. But, then I remember how I felt before I left, like the only thing I could do was leave. It's confusing."   
  
Will wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and she moved a little closer to his side.    
  
"I don't pretend to know how you feel, but I'm always here to talk if you need to. That's what partners are for, remember?"    
  
Will felt as if there was part of the story that he didn't know, that Kate hadn't told him yet. He knew that she wanted to leave, but what pushed her to make the final decision? What happened that finally set her on the road to Chicago and to the Pinkertons?    
  
"Thanks, Will," Kate said, snapping him out of his thought process. It felt almost easy to confide in him now as she knew he would always listen without judgment, just as he had before.   
  
"No problem."   
  
They got up and started to unpack. Soon, they received a knock on their door, and a voice telling them to come down for lunch. They walked down the steps and through the living room to the dining room, which somehow had enough seats to fit all 15 of them. Will noticed that most of the seats had been pulled in from other rooms of the house in order to fit them all.   
  
They took their seats, and Will saw bowls of food laid out across the table with large serving spoons in them. He supposed that was how you ate if you came from a large family, but of course he wouldn't know.    
  
He soon struck up a conversation with Tom about where he had acquired his leather gun holster, and found that Tom, although not as witty as his brother, was still a good conversationalist.   
  
Kate, to his left, had also stuck up a conversation, but in her case with her nieces and nephews who demanded to hear some of her detective stories.    
  
"Let's see," Kate said, "I know! How about the time Will and I had to pacify a bloodthirsty mob in the middle of the biggest snowstorm to hit Kansas City in 20 years?"   
  
The children nodded, fascinated. A few of the adults stopped their conversations to listen in.   
  
"Well, we had sent our apprentice, Kenji, who use to be a bounty hunter to collect a man suspected of murder. He was a bootlegger named Jeremiah Mudd, and his whisky still had blown up and caused a fire which had killed a few squatters living in his building.   
  
"Kenji brought him in, but with no more space in the local jail, we had to house him in the Dubois hotel, with all of the people who had come to testify against him in the trial just downstairs, and only a US Army Marshall between Mudd and the mob. The owner of the hotel, and our friend, Annalee was completely oblivious to it.   
  
"Kenji was watching Mudd while Will and I left to deal with something, and he was shot by an unknown assailant! Will and I tried to help him as best we could, but with the snow falling so hard outside, we couldn't get him to a doctor. The Marshall left to get some towels, but as he was walking down the hallway, he was beaten over the head with a vase. Left on the vase was some gauze, which was our first clue as to who the murderer might be."   
  
The mention of a murder caused a few gasps from her family, especially from Kate's mother, who was rightfully worried about her safety. Will, for his part, smiled proudly as Kate retold one of their more successful cases. She continued.   
  
"Downstairs in the saloon, a rival whisky maker, Cyril Clay, had told the sister of one of the victims that Mudd was just upstairs, and she went ahead and told the rest of the people in the saloon. Annalee caught wind of it, and was angry that we hadn't told her." That last sentence was said with an air of guilt. Kate still regretted not trusting Annalee enough to tell her.

 

"Annalee, who had lost some... friends due to Mudd's dirty dealings, went upstairs and held a razor to his neck. Before she could do anything though, we stopped her. She went back downstairs, but the roof, weighed down by all of the snow, started to cave in, and we have to move both Mudd and Kenji downstairs.  
  
"The mob of people were getting more restless, especially when we brought Mudd downstairs. We had to point our guns at them once just to get them to calm down. The only way to keep them from murdering him was to put on our own trial. We appointed Annalee to ask him questions. We didn't have much time, though, as Kenji's condition was worsening. He was close to death."  
  
"Wait, didn't you just say that Annalee held a razor blade to his neck? That wouldn't make for a very fair trial," Caroline remarked.   
  
"Annalee may have been motivated to see him convicted, but I know her. She isn't a vigilante. Anyways, Mudd testified that when he looked at his blown up whisky still, the still had blown in, not out, suggesting that it was sabotage. Just then, he saw Cyril Clay in the crowd, and told us that if anyone was motivated to see him hang, it would be Clay."  
  
"No wonder he incited the mob, he didn't want Mudd to incriminate him," Virgil said, nodding his head in understanding.  
  
"Exactly, and as we started asking him questions, I noticed some gauze wrapped around his hand, like the kind we found on the vase used to murder the Marshall. It smelled like linseed oil and paint."  
  
"Which is used to treat burns," Caroline finished.  
  
"Mhm. Around that time, Kenji started to recover, and the snow stopped falling so heavily. We got the actual murderer, and Mudd was freed."  
  
"Is it always that exciting, being a detective?" Virgil asked goodnaturedly.  
  
"Well, we're P.I.'s, so often we get cases that are essentially lover's spats, or sometimes we look into shady business dealings. It's not always that exciting," Will answered, and Kate nodded in agreement.  
  
"Aunty Kate, tell us another one!" Jack pleaded, excitement shining in his eyes.  
  
Kate opened her mouth as if to speak, but after a quick glance around the room, she shut it again. Will followed her line of sight to see most everyone, save Caroline and Virgil, shooting her disapproving glances.  
  
Kate turned back to the children. "Maybe another time," she said.  
  
An awkward silence settled over the group, and Kate looked down at the food on her plate that she had barely touched. Will moved his hand under the table and placed it on Kate's forearm, a gesture he hoped expressed that he had her back.   
  
Caroline cleared her throat, breaking the silence. "Katie, I think you're the only one who hasn't seen my dress yet. How about you and I go have a look?"  
  
"I would love to," Kate said, sounding relieved for an excuse to leave the table. The two women got up, thanked their mother for the meal, and brought their plates into the kitchen.  
  
"Will, James, Tom, and I are going to go duck hunting after lunch. We were wondering if you would join us," Virgil said to Will, after Kate and Caroline had left.  
  
"That sounds great, except I don't have a gun."  
  
"Oh, you can borrow an extra of ours. What do you say?" James said.  
  
"Yeah, why not?" Will said, smiling slightly.   
  
"While you're out hunting, we need some people to help collect eggs. How about it, kids?" Kate's father asked from the head of the table. He smiled warmly as the children who nodded and chattered amongst themselves about who could collect the most eggs. Mary and her mother started talking about wedding preparations while Will, Tom, Virgil, and James left the table to get ready for the hunt.  
  


* * *

  
  
After depositing their dishes in the sink, Caroline grabbed Kate's hand and lead her up to her room. They stepped inside and Caroline let go of Kate's hand in order walk over to the closet and rummage around inside. After a moment, she pulled out an off-white dress. It had a short train and frills around the sleeves. Kate reached out a hand to touch the fabric.   
  
"It's beautiful, Carrie," Kate said, giving her sister a soft smile.   
  


"Thanks, Katie. I'm sure yours was equally as beautiful," Caroline put the dress back in the closet. They both moved to sit down on the bed next to each other.   
  
"Will and I weren't too worried about the dress. It was a bit of a rush job," Kate lied, and only felt a little bit guilty about doing so.   
  
"A rush job? Were you...?" Caroline trailed off, gesturing to her stomach.   
  
Kate blushed and shook her head. "No, no, nothing like that. We just didn't want to wait, I guess."   
  
"Oh."   
  
Kate took her sister's hand in hers. "Carrie, I haven't had a chance to congratulate you yet, or ask you how you're doing."   
  
"Thank you, Katie. Really. And I'm doing fine."   
  
"Your fiance, what's he like?" Kate asked.   
  
Caroline faltered a bit, before recovering. Kate wondered what about him warranted that reaction. "Gabriel, he's... quiet. But he's kind, and he's safe."   
  
"Safe? I've never known you to care much about safety. You were always the one to test the ice when the pond froze over in the winter, and you always pushed your horse to go the fastest when we went out riding," Kate said.   
  
"Yeah, I remember, but my options are limited right now. There's not much I can do," Caroline said, sounded resigned.   
  
"Did... did mother and father pressure you into this?" Kate asked, her hands clenched into fists. She had thought that maybe after she left, her parents wouldn't try to do to Caroline what they had done to her.   
  
"No, no... well, yes, but Katie, I'm 27 years old. I can't keep living in this house. At least when I'm married, I'll have a house of my own to look after, and maybe children one day. Not many women can have that," Caroline said.   
  
Kate felt a pang in her heart. She hated to see her outgoing, adventurous little sister forced to do something she didn't want to just because she thought it was her only option. Kate had once expressed to Will how lucky she felt that she had a house, food on the table, and even a pension. She had never wished so hard for someone else to share in that luck as she did in that moment.   
  
"I'm so sorry, Carrie," she said.   
  
Caroline shook her head and took Kate's hand in hers. Kate hadn't realized her hands were still balled into fists until Caroline unfurled them, and ran her fingertips over the red crescent moon impressions Kate had left on her palms.   
  
"Don't you pay it no mind. Now, you have yet to tell me about how you and Will got acquainted," Caroline said.   
  
"Well, Will was supposed to be investigating a train robbery case, but let's just say he wasn't doing a very good job of it. Allan Pinkerton called me in to take charge of the case," Kate said, smiling as she remembered how different things were back then.   
  
"How did Will feel about being replaced by a woman?"   
  
"Oh, he wasn't too happy about it. At least, not at first. And neither was I, honestly. I thought he was childish and impulsive and stubborn, and I wanted nothing more than to get away from him. By the end of the case, we were both ready to go back to Chicago, but Allan Pinkerton had other ideas. He permanently assigned us to Kansas City, and to each other as partners."   
  
"I guess you both got off on the wrong foot," Caroline said, chuckling at the ridiculousness of it all.   
  
"Yeah, I guess so. But when you have to work with someone every day, you get a better picture of who they are as a person. Will just needed to grow into his skin, and I watched him become a better detective, and a better person."   
  
"What's it like, being married?" Caroline asked.   
  
Kate took in a breath. "Well, um, it's like, you always have someone to talk to about things. You never feel like you have to keep whatever you're feeling bottled up inside you. At least, that's how it should be."   
  
The problem was that Kate hadn't felt that way with Charlie, her only legal marriage. As real as her feelings were with him, she couldn't disclose any information about her real self, or her mission. Instead, she drew on her experiences being Will's partner, and the comfortable transparency that had grown between them in the two years they had been partners.    
  
"Hm, I hope it's that way with my husband."   
  
"I hope so, too."   
  


* * *

  
  
After gathering whatever gear they needed, the men save Kate's father headed out. Tom and James walked ahead, while Will hung back with Virgil.    
  
"So, it got pretty... awkward back at the lunch table, after Kate told her story," Will said, both trying to start up a conversation and to try and understand exactly why.    
  
"Yeah, well our parents never really approved of what Katie was doing, being a detective and all. And I think the rest of them were just worried about the kids hearing stuff they shouldn't be hearing," Virgil said.   
  
"You and Caroline didn't seem to mind too much," Will pointed out.   
  
Virgil laughed. "No, I don't suppose we did. Caroline has always looked up to Katie. After she left, it was all mother and father could do not to let Caroline follow right after her. As for me, well Katie and I have always been pretty close. When she came to me and told me that she needed to leave, I encouraged her to do it. Looking at her now, I'm glad I did."   
  
"I'm glad you did too," Will said. Part of him wanted to ask why. Why did Kate decide to go? But he decided to leave that for Kate to answer herself, when she was ready.    
  
"I'm sure you are." Virgil laughed. "Say, what's it like being married to Katie?"   
  
"Well, she, uh, she never lets you get away with anything, and she won't take any of your bullshit. But she's caring, you know, and she shows it in her own way. Sometimes she's a riddle wrapped in a puzzle, but sometimes I know exactly what she's thinking," Will said, finding that he didn't have to lie. Not even once.   
  
"That sounds like Katie. Headstrong, and as stubborn as the day is long, but caring too. I remember once, she caught wind of a fight going on between Henry Fox and some boy at school. She marched down there and broke it up, pulling Henry back home by his ear. But then she fixed up his cuts and bruises as tenderly as any mother would. Scared Henry half to death, I can imagine."   
  
Will stiffened at the mention of Henry. He remembered how angry he was when he realized that Henry had lied to Kate. He had felt a red hot spike of protectiveness at the time that he had never felt for Kate before, but felt many times afterwards. He always thought that was the case that made them truly partners, but he wasn't sure if Kate agreed.   
  
"Oh, we know about Henry, and believe me, there's no hard feelings. We all caught wind of his gambling habits, and when he mortgaged the farm, we knew he wouldn't be back. It's too bad, though. He was a good man. I always thought him and Katie would get married," Virgil said.   
  
Will stamped down a little twinge of jealousy that still lingered from that case so long ago. Henry had told him that Kate always seem to light a fire in men who had feelings for her, and it wasn't till recently that Will had a clue what he meant. "I'm sure he did, too. But you know Kate, she never really does what people expect her to," Will said, with his jaw clenched.   
  
Virgil laughed and clapped Will on the back as they marched towards the lake where most of the ducks would still be congregating.    
  
They caught up with James and Tom as they approached the lake. The men brought out shotgun shells from their coat pockets and opened up the barrels of their guns.   
  
"So, what's Caroline's fiance like?" Will asked as he dropped the shells down the barrel of his gun.   
  
"Real serious guy, not much fun," James said as he cocked his gun, ready to fire at the cluster of ducks sitting around the pond.   
  
"Yeah, he's some big shot banker from up North. The only time I met him was when he came around asking father for Carrie's hand. He put up a big dowry too, that's why I think father likes him," Tom said.    
  
Tom picked up a rock from off the ground and threw it towards the ducks. They scattered, flying off into various directions. All of the men took aim and fired, and three ducks fell out of the air into the ground below. They went to collect their game.   
  
"Say, why isn't her fiance here yet?" Will said as he picked up his duck by the feet with a gloved hand.   
  
"He's apparently closing this big deal with a land developer. He should be in tomorrow," Virgil said.   
  
"On his wedding week?" Will asked, slightly astounded. He knew that if he ever got married, he would probably be too wracked with nerves to get much work done, or too busy with preparations.   
  
Virgil shrugged, but the look in his eyes told Will that he shared his opinion. He wondered if Kate knew what kind of person her sister was married. He wondered if Caroline even knew. Deciding to leave it alone for now, Will loaded up his gun again.   
  


* * *

  
  
Will and Kate didn't see each other again until they both sat down at the dinner table. The conversation was light and simple, with an undercurrent of tension that Will was getting used to very quickly. He wondered, though, how Kate withstood it all those years.    
  
Will planned on telling Kate all that he'd heard about Caroline's fiance after dinner, but Kate's father had other plans.   
  
"William, I would like to have a word with you after dinner," Kate's father said, in a voice loud enough to grab the entire table's attention.   
  
"Dad, I don't think--"   
  
"Nonsense, Katie. I haven't had a chance to talk to my new son-in-law yet," he said, raising an eyebrow and looking pointedly at Will.   
  
"Uh, of course, Sir," Will said, trying his hardest not to feel nervous.   
  
Everyone took that as a cue to finish up their meal and move over to the living room. Kate squeezed his hand and with one last glance at Will over her shoulder, she left the room. Only Kate's father and Will remained.    
  
Will looked nervously at him. He tired to tell himself that he'd faced worse than his partner's father, but it didn't help his anxiety much. Nicholas walked over to Will and he stood up to face him.    
  
"William, I must say that I am a little disappointed that we had to meet like this, six months after you married my daughter," he said sternly, face blank and unreadable.    
  
"I am too, sir. But she wasn't ready to come back. She thought you wouldn't accept her after all these years. I had to convince her to come."   
  
That didn't seem like what Nicolas wanted to hear, but he brushed it aside. "I suppose it's too late to give you the 'if you hurt my daughter you'll find yourself on the business end of my shot gun' talk?" Nicolas said, his voice a strange mixture of stern and lighthearted.    
  
"She's saved my life more times than I can count. I have no intention of hurting her," Will said, and he meant it. He really meant it.    
  
Nicolas nodded, looking contemplative.    
  
"Katie has always been a quiet girl, timid. I can hardly imagine her in the situation she described earlier," Nicolas said. His eyes seemed to bore into Will, looking for something, anything, to explain the changes he witnessed in Kate.   
  
Will, for his part, had to hold himself back from asking if he was out of his mind. The Kate he knew was strong willed, stubborn. He had never known her to be quiet. If fact, when he had first met her, he wished to G-d that she would shut up for just a few seconds so he could think. And timid? It was almost as if Nicolas didn't know her at all. He reigned himself in though, knowing that speaking his mind now would do more harm than good.    
  
"She does well under pressure. That's essential in our line of work. And she's very clever. She's my father's favorite agent. He trusts her, and so do I."    
  
Nicolas hummed in response. Will heard small feet pounding the floor boards in the other room. The footsteps approached quickly until little Lisa came into the room. She tugged on her grandfather's shirt and looked up at him.    
  
"Grandpa, will you come teach us the trick to the ball cup game? Father says you know how to do it the best."    
  
Nicolas smiled down at her. "Sure thing, sweetheart. You don't mind, Will?"    
  
"No, go ahead."    
  
Nicolas took his granddaughter's hand and was lead away. Almost as soon as he was gone, Kate walked back into the room and placed a hand on his bicep.    
  
"What did he say? Did he threaten you?" Kate asked, sounding genuinely concerned.   
  
"Only a little bit. And anyways, I have to talk to you about something," Will said.   
  
"Okay, we can go to my ro--"   
  
"Kate, Will, come into the living room! You can't stick to yourselves all night!" Caroline called from the other room. Will glanced at Kate, mouthed a 'later,' and followed her into the living room.   
  
They found seats next to each other on the couch, and watched as the rest of the family talked amongst themselves. Carrie was the most cheerful of all of them, which was somewhat surprising to Kate, given the nature of their conversation earlier.    
  
"So, Kate and Will, are you thinking of having children soon?" Margaret asked, suddenly turning her attention to them. Will choked a little on air and Kate blushed.   
  
"No, uh, not for a while," Kate answered.   
  
"Yeah, a long, long while," Will said.   
  
"Well, you're thirty-four, Kate. You better do it now or else you won't be able to later," Mary said, not seeming to notice, or care, about her sister's obvious discomfort.    
  
Will's fist clenched at his side, hopefully obscured by Kate's skirt. He knew how Kate felt about having children. Her work was her life, and she liked it that way. She never wanted a child to interfere with that, and although Will didn't understand it at first, especially seeing how good she was with children, he accepted it. For the second time that day, he wondered if maybe they had gotten the wrong house, and these weren't the people she spent twenty-two years of her life with.    
  
"We will keep that in mind," Will answered for her. She gave him a small, grateful smile.    
  
"Please do. There's never enough grandchildren running around this place, at least in my opinion," Margaret said.   
  
Kate and Will smiled awkwardly, deciding to instead watch the children take turns with the ball cup game, shouting in triumph when they landing the ball in the cup, and groaning when they didn't.    
  
Soon enough, they were sent to bed with much complaining. Their parents went to help them, deciding themselves to turn in early. Margaret and Nicholas also left, taking Carrie with them. They insisted she needed to be well rested for her wedding in a few days. Finally, it was just him and Kate, alone for only the second time that day. Will felt himself relax, knowing he no longer needed to put on a show.    
  
"Well, that was..." Will started, trailing off.   
  
"Interesting," Kate finished.    
  
"Yeah, interesting."   
  
"How do you like them, my family?"   
  
"They're nice, welcoming. I especially like Carrie and Virgil. No wonder you named your goat after him," he said teasingly.    
  
Kate smiled and elbowed him lightly in the side. Will smiled at her, then frowned a little. She looked so much looser with him, so much more herself. Wasn't home supposed to be the one place where you could be yourself without judgement?   
  
"What's wrong?" Kate asked, noticing his expression.   
  
"I just-- they don't seem to know you at all. Your family, I mean. Except for maybe Carrie and Virgil. I mean, your dad called you timid! And you've never been afraid to say that you don't want kids! Have they just never listened?"   
  
Kate looked down at her lap, and Will suddenly wished he could take it all back. He hated to see her upset.   
  
"I guess they just never cared to find out. Or maybe they liked the person I showed them, and decided to leave well enough alone. I don't know."    
  
Will was suddenly reminded of Belle, the woman who had kidnapped her own husband. He had heard some rumors about her, train robberies and such from all over the west. He remembered how she had put on an act and fooled them all for a while. All she wanted was her freedom, and Will could understand that. He wondered, briefly, if Kate would've done the same thing, if she had married against her will like her parents seemed to want her to. He pushed the thought away. Kate Warne was strong, her morals unwavering. She wouldn't, not ever.   
  


Instead of voicing any of this, he simply moved closer to her side. Much to his surprise, she leaned against him slightly. She was perpetually cold, his partner, and often had to wear gloves inside during the colder months. Now though, she was a warm weight against his side and he would be content to stay there always. He wondered if that's what marriage is really like, and allowed himself to dwell on it, just for a moment, before he pushed it away to the back of his mind, not to be brought up again.    
  
"What did you want to tell me earlier?" Kate asked, turning her head slightly to look at him.     
  
"Hmm?"   
  
"In the dining room, you said you had something to tell me."   
  
"Oh, yes. Virgil, he was talking to me about Carrie's fiance, and I'm not too sure he is really the man she thinks he is," Will said, shifting so that he was mostly facing her.    
  
"How do you mean?"   
  
"I mean, Virgil said he's taciturn, and he doesn't come around often. And he said that he's not here right now because he's closing a business deal, two days before his wedding," Will said, hoping his point got across.   
  
Kate looked concerned, but unsurprised. "Carrie implied earlier that she wasn't marrying him for love, but rather for safety, for the ability to run her own house, to have children. I know that she's luckier than most, at least he has money, but I wish she didn't feel like she had to."    
  
Will nodded and wrapped an arm around her back. She settled into the embrace and seemed relaxed, just for a moment, before remembering herself. She stood up quickly, and Will brushed off the slight hurtful sting he felt from the abruptness of her gesture.   
  
"We should probably go up to bed. No doubt Ma will expect us to help with the preparations and we need our strength," she said, almost too quickly. Will nodded, she was right, as always. He stood up and followed her out of the room.   
  


* * *

  
  
After much stumbling and tripping over things in the dark, at least on Will's part, they made it to Kate's room and were faced with a problem, one they should've realized earlier. There was only one bed.   
  
"I'll take the floor," Will offered immediately, trying to do the gentlemanly thing, and after all Kate had done for him, he would gladly sleep on the floor a million times for her.   
  
"Nonsense. You can't sleep on the floor for three days, it's unhealthy. And besides, my family has a terrible habit of walking into rooms without permission. It will look suspicious if we aren't in the same bed," Kate said, quickly, logically, as if that's all this was.   
  
Will nodded, and they stood there quietly for a moment, the flickering light of the candles creating patterns on the walls.    
  
"I have to, uh, change. Do you mind...?" Kate asked, looking anywhere but him.   
  
"No, not at all," Will said, turning around. He heard the rustling of clothing and blushed in spite of himself. He would never turn around without her permission, but he wished, just for a moment, that she would give it. He shook his head, stopping the thought before it even got started. He was going to share a bed with her, for goodness sake. He couldn't be thinking about that sort of thing.    
  
"All done," Kate said from behind him, he turned around to find her in her nightgown, a familiar sight he'd seen a few times before.    
  
Will suddenly felt overdressed and out of place. He started to unbutton his vest and pulled it off. He was about to do the same to his shirt, when he remembered that he should at least be courteous and ask.   
  
"Is this okay?" Will asked, tugging at the hem of his shirt.   
  
"Oh, yes, it's-- it's okay," she stammered.   
  
Will nodded and removed his shirt. He suddenly felt the cool night air on his chest, and it made him want to wrap his arms around himself to shield himself from her gaze. He removed his shoes instead and walked over to the bed.    
  
"Um, is the right side okay for you?" Will asked.   
  
"Yes," she answered, breathlessly.    
  
Will climbed into bed and got under the covers. They were pretty soft against his bare skin. Kate climbed in after him, pulling the covers up to her chin.    
  
"Do you want me to turn the lamp off?" Will asked.   
  
"Yes," she answered.   
  
Will reached over and blew out the small flame nestled in the middle of the oil lamp. The room was suddenly engulfed in darkness as Will settled back down again. He brushed Kate a few times in the process, muttering apologies.    
  
"It's alright," she whispered back, brushing her hand against his lightly. He felt her touch warm on his skin and smiled to himself in the darkness.   
  
"Goodnight, Will," she whispered.    
  
"Goodnight, Kate."   
  


* * *

  
  
Will awoke to the sound of a rooster crowing somewhere in the distance. He groaned quietly, and attempted to roll over to avoid the sun he was suddenly very aware of, but he felt an obvious weight on his chest.   
  
He looked down. Kate's head rested on his chest, her hair messy from sleep. She had an arm slung over him, her fingers brushing his right collarbone. Her chest rose and fell rhythmically. Will suddenly went still, not wanting to wake her. It was all he could do to keep his breathing in check.    
  
He had thought about this, dreamed of this, more times than he cared to admit. Maybe with a different inciting action, sure, but it always ended this way. He resisted the urge to run his fingers through her hair, as he often wished to. But he knew she probably wouldn't thank him for it, and for the moment, he didn't wish to wake her.   
  
That dream was short lived as she began to stir. Will quickly shut his eyes. He figured she'd be less embarrassed if she thought he was asleep. He felt her lift her head from his chest a moment later, pause, and then pull back the covers and get up from the bed. Some part of Will was screaming at him to open his eyes, tell her he knows, and he's okay with it. More than okay with it. But instead he stayed quiet.    
  
Will heard the rustling of clothing and the continued crows of the rooster before Kate spoke up.    
  
"Wow, you really can sleep through anything," Kate said. Will opened his eyes and watched her run a brush through her hair, clothed in her dark pink dress.    
  
"What do you mean?" he asked, making sure his voice sounded husky from sleep.   
  
"The rooster crowed like four times. I know you're not a country boy, but goodness it's loud."   
  
Will sat up in bed, pulled back the covers, and got out of bed. He walked over to Kate, smiling slightly. "Well, you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl."   
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"   
  
"You get up at the crack of dawn every day. Waking up with the sun? That's a country thing."   
  
"I just like taking advantage of daylight, that's all," she said defensively. She moved to put the brush down.   
  
"That's what you call it?" Will asked, pulling on a clean shirt.    
  
"Yeah. Maybe you should try it sometime."    
  
Will laughed as he put on his vest and did up all the buttons. He picked up his coat from the place he'd hung it on the bedpost and put it on. Kate stood by the door, waiting for him to finish.   
  
"Come on. No doubt my mother will have some chore for us to do. You're part of the family now, at least in their eyes, so don't think you're exempt," Kate said, opening the door. Will groaned and followed her out. He had always hated chores.   
  


* * *

  
  
Margaret had told them to go fill up water buckets at the well. She said she needed them for cooking tomorrow's dinner. Will nodded and smiled, but grumbled the whole walk there. He swung his empty buckets at his sides, dreading the moment when they would be full and he would have to carry them back.   
  
The small well wasn't far. It was just over the picturesque hill behind the house, along a dirt path that looked like it had been carved out by dozens of feet walking over the grass. Will took the time to look around in between complaints. There were trees lining the field, which cast shadows across the swaying grass. There were patches of wildflowers here and there, staining the yellow patchwork with blues and purples.    
  


Finally, they reached the small stone well. It had a small thatched roof over top, a bucket attached to a pole running between both sides. Kate put her own buckets down and walked over to the well. She set to lowering the bucket into the dark hole. She peered over the edge once or twice, leaning out over the entrance. Will fought the urge to hold onto her once or twice, to keep her from going over the edge. She reeled the bucket back in.    
  
"Hand me your pail, would you?' Kate said.   
  
Will handed her the pail in his hand. She poured the water into it, some of it sloshing out over the rim. Carefully, she handed it back to him and he placed it on the ground. She did this twice more, until only one bucket was left.   
  
"Last one," she said, as she filled it up. She handed to to Will, who, in a split second, lost his grip on the handle. The bucket tumbled to the ground, soaking the bottom of Kate's skirt and turning the dirt to mud.    
  
"Will!"    
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, Kate," Will said, reaching his hands out to her, a silent offer to help with whatever she needed.    
  
"It's fine, it was an accident," she said, reaching down presumably to inspect her skirt. Instead, she picked up one of the other water buckets and tossed it's contents at Will, soaking his boots with cold water.    
  
"That, however, was not," she said, giggling.    
  
Will's jaw dropped, and it took him a second to react. "You want a war, Mrs. Warne?" Will asked, reaching down to pick up a bucket.   
  
"You started it, Mr. Pinkerton," she said, grabbing her own and taking off in the opposite direction, hair flying behind her.   
  
He took off after her, the water in his bucket sloshing over the rim. She circled around the well, coming back to the overturned buckets they had left there. Will stopped and turned around, ready to meet her halfway. As Kate arrived back where she started, Will watched as she slid a little in the mud, losing her balance. Immediately, as if on instinct, Will dropped his bucket and reached out to catch her, placing steadying hands on her waist. She grabbed onto his upper arms tightly, involuntarily pulling herself closer to him.    
  
They stopped, less than a foot away from each other. Will watched as Kate looked up at him, her gaze settling over him, making him blush slightly. Her eyes flickered to his lips, and Will was suddenly hyper aware of how close they were standing, of his hands on her waist. He leaned down, his eyes flickering shut just as Kate tilted her face upwards. Will's heart was beating so quickly he thought it would beat right out of his chest. He took one hand from her waist and reached up to cup her cheek, earning him a gasp. They were just inches away. One quick movement and his lips would be on her's. He gathered up all his courage, leaned just a little closer, and--   
  
"What are you two love birds doing? Shouldn't you be getting water?" Carried asked, walking over the hill towards them. Kate and Will pulled away quickly and stepped away from each other. Will blushed and looked anywhere but the woman at his side.    
  
"You know you're supposed to collect the water, not pour it all over yourself," Carrie said, looking them over as she approached them.    
  
"It was an accident," Kate said, brushing off her skirt, trying to look more presentable.   
  
"You two look like you were caught doing something scandalous," Carrie said, a twinkle in her eye.   
  
"Oh no, we weren't--"   
  
"Yeah, it's not--"   
  
"Calm down, I'm only teasing. And besides, you're married aren't you? Come on, let's just get the water and get back. Ma is going to have a fit if we take much longer," Carrie said, reaching for one of the overturned buckets.   
  
Will glanced at Kate, just for a moment. He wondered if she felt as disappointed as he did. He pushed those feelings aside for now, and focused on the task at hand. It took almost no time at all when they were actually focused on it.

 

Will carried a bucket in each hand and walked back to the house, trailing a few feet behind Kate and Carrie. Every step he took was accompanied by the squelching sound of water in his shoes, but somehow he couldn't find it in himself to mind.   
  


* * *

  
  
They took the buckets to the kitchen, where Margaret, looking frazzled and distracted, kissed them all on their cheeks and thanked them, before sending them off to find something else to do. Will was suddenly reminded of his own mother, and resolved to send her a letter when they got back to Kansas City.    
  
Will and Kate went to go change clothes, deciding that they didn't want to deal with soaked clothing all day. They walked up the stairs and approached her door. Will opened it and they both tried to enter at the same time, finding the other in their way.   
  
"Uh, go ahead," Kate said.   
  
"No, no, it's fine. You go," Will replied quickly. He almost winced at how awkward he sounded. Was this how it's going to be? He hated walking on eggshells around her, someone he knew he could always trust.   
  
Kate looked at him curiously for a moment, before going in. Will followed behind her. They both turned away from each other, gathering their clothes and changing out of their wet ones. Will tried to focus his thoughts on the task, rather than letting them wander. When he was done, he turned back around to find Kate sitting on the bed, watching him quietly.    
  
"We should... talk about earlier," Kate said, looking vaguely serious.   
  
"Yeah..."   
  
"Nothing happened," she said firmly, and Will's heart clenched. Of course she didn't want it to. Who was he kidding?   
  
"No, it didn't."   
  
"But..."   
  
"But?"    
  
"Did-- did you want it to?" Kate looked unsure, maybe a little hopeful. Will's heart started beating faster inside his chest.   
  
"I--"   
  
A scream pierced the air. Will and Kate turned to the window where the scream came from and rushed to look out into the yard.    
  
Down in the yard, in the large apple tree was little Cal, clutching desperately to a tree branch. Below him was Jack, Lisa, and Annie calling to him, trying to coax him down. Will and Kate looked at each other and bolted from the room. They swung around the banister and headed down the steps, running out of the house.    
  
"What happened?" Kate asked as she reached the children.   
  
"I bet Cal that he couldn't climb to the top of the tree and he got scared and now he won't come down!" Jack said, looking close to tears himself. Kate turned around to find Will, already climbing up the tree.    
  
"Will, be careful!" Kate called to him.    
  
"Don't you worry about me, I'm fine," Will said in between grunts as he climbed higher and higher into the tree.    
  
Just then, Mary, Caroline, and Susan ran out of the house. "What is happening? Where is my boy?" Susan yelled.    
  
"Momma!" Cal screamed from the tree.    
  
"He climbed up too high. Will is getting him down," Kate said. Annie, overwhelmed by all the excitement, reached out to hold Kate's hand. Kate looked down at the little girl and gave her a reassuring smile.    
  
"Momma, I'm scared!" Cal cried out.   
  
"Don't worry, honey! Uncle Will is gonna help you. You just listen to him and this'll all be fine!" Susan yelled to her son, who nodded shakily in return.   
  
Will, for his part, had gotten as close as he could get to Cal. He didn't want to shake the branch that Cal was clutching. He knew it would scare him, or worse, cause him to lose his grip.   
  
"Hey, buddy. How're you doing?" Will asked, keeping his voice calm.   
  
"I wanna get down," he sobbed.    
  
"I know, Cal. And I can help you, but you've gotta trust me. Can you do that, buddy?" Will asked.   
  
Cal nodded and Will smiled at him. "Okay, I need to scooch back along the branch towards me. Then I'll grab onto you and help you down, okay?"    
  
Cal nodded again and started to move back along the tree branch. When he got to where Will could reach him, Will wrapped one arm around the boy's middle. He pulled Cal to his chest.    
  
"I need you to hang on to me tightly, okay? I need both my arms to climb down. If you ever feel like you're slipping, tell me right away," Will whispered to the boy, who looked a little afraid, but clung to Will anyways. Will then began the slow climb down the tree.    
  
Will reached one of the branches in the middle of the tree when his right hand, which had become sweaty with effort slipped from the branch. He sucked in a breath as he hung for a second, his feet scrabbling to gain purchase on some lower branches. Cal let out a yelp and clutched him tighter. Will quickly grabbed onto another branch, caught his breath, and began climbing again.    
  
Kate watched from the ground as Will reached out to grab a tree branch and slipped slightly. She sucked in a breath and fought the urge to call out to him. Instead, she watched him, biting her lip nervously. Finally, after what seemed like a million years, Will jumped down onto the ground with Cal safe in his arms. Will put him down and Cal immediately ran to his mother.    
  
"Are you alright? If you ever do that again I swear I will box your ears so hard your head will rattle. Don't you ever scare me like that again!" Susan said, hugging Cal tightly.    
  
Kate walked quickly over to Will as he was steadying himself on the ground. She immediately threw her arms around him, unbalancing him again. Will stumbled a bit then returned the embrace. "I thought you were going to fall. I thought--"   
  
"It's okay, Kate. I'm okay," he whispered in her neck, tightening his hold on her slightly, before letting go.    
  
Susan walked over to them and kissed Will on the cheek. "Thank you so much for helping my boy," she said, teary eyed.   
  
"Think nothing of it. We're family now. I'd do the same for any one of you," Will said, and just for a moment he believed it. He was getting used to Kate's family in the little time he'd stayed with them. Sometimes he forgot that they weren't his, not really.   
  
"We're so happy to have you here," Mary said, walking over to them. "I had my doubts about you at first, Will Pinkerton, I must say, but any fool can see you love Kate, and you're a good man. Kate chose well."   
  
Was he that obvious? Were his feelings for his partner that plain?    
  
"Thank you, that means a lot," Will said. Will put out his hand for her to shake, but she pulled him into a quick hug instead, dropping her austere facade just for a moment. The hug was over before it began and Will was left stunned.    
  
"What happened here?" a voice called from the back doorway. Out stepped a tall man wearing a bowler hat and a black vest with a gold pocket watch chain tucked into it. He had dark features with equally dark hair. He walked over to them and stood by Carrie, taking her arm in his and placing a kiss on her cheek. Carrie hardly seemed to react to this. In fact, she looked rather deflated. Her usually bubbly personality seemed to vanish in a moment.    
  
"Little Cal here climbed too far high into the tree. He needed a little help getting down," Susan said. Cal had the decency to look sheepish.   
  
"Ah, yes. Well, boys will be boys. Hmm, I don't believe we've been acquainted. I am Bernard Addington, Caroline's fiance," the man said, extending his hand to Will.     
  
"Oh, I'm not-- I'm Caroline's brother-in-law. My name's Will. This is my wife, Kate, Carrie's sister," Will said, gesturing to the woman at his left.    
  
"Yes, please to finally meet the illusive Kate Warne. You're a Pinkerton agent, yes?" Bernard said, as him and Kate shook hands.   
  
"Yes, I am. And head of the Female Agents Bureau," Kate said. Will smiled a little bit with pride.   
  
"Hmm. Well you're a braver man than I, William, allowing your wife to continue with this... occupation even after the two of you were married."   
  
Kate's eyes widened and her jaw clenched involuntarily. Will's fingers curled into fists at his sides and he held himself back from actually using them. Carrie gave a small gasp from where she was standing by Bernard's side. Susan and Mary watched the scene play out in front of them, not sure what to say or do next.   
  
"Well, I would be a hypocrite if I did, seeing as I am an agent myself. William Pinkerton, pleased to make your acquaintance," Will said, voice ice cold. Kate smiled slightly at the ground.   
  
"My apologies, Mr. Pinkerton. I shouldn't have assumed."   
  
"That's quite alright, Mr. Addington. I understand how... old fashioned some people can be. Now if you'll excuse us, we have to help prepare for your wedding," Kate said, smiling sweetly. She took Will's arm and led him away. Will quickly tipped his hat to Bernard and walked with her. Kate walked quickly and if she had been just a little taller, Will would've struggled to keep up. Behind him, he heard Carrie talking to Bernard in low tones. He couldn't quite make out what was being said, but she sounded serious.    
  
Kate took him towards to the edge of the yard and located a small foot path. Will let her lead him into the trees and refrained from asking where they were going. Soon enough, they came upon a clearing in the woods. Sunlight filtered through the trees, streaks of light illuminating pollen and other particles in the air. The ground was teeming with wildflowers of all colors that seemed to sway in the light breeze.    
  
"What is this place?" Will asked.    
  
"It's my secret hideous. I always used to come here to get away from the house. No one knows about it, not even Carrie or Virgil," she said, moving to sit on the grass in the middle of the clearing. Will followed her and sat down at her side.    
  
"Bernard was way out of line back there," Will said in some feeble attempt at comfort.   
  
"I'm used to it," Kate said, and Will suddenly felt guilty. He'd acted similarly when they'd first met, unable to see past his own prejudice. He looked back on that time mostly with shame.    
  
"You shouldn't have to be."   
  
"Maybe in another time," Kate said, staring up at the trees. Will had never wanted so much for things to change, for her sake more than his. She deserved to be recognized for all she'd done for the country. She deserved to be taken seriously, to be regarded as an actual agent not just some punch line.    
  
"But that's not what I'm worried about," Kate said, looking back at Will.   
  
"What are you worried about?"   
  
"I'm worried about Carrie. I mean, you've met her. She's excited and happy and enthusiastic by nature. She's always curious and teasing. But the moment that Bernard came around, all of that was just... gone. She looked so lifeless."   
  
Will nodded. He'd seen the same thing.    
  
"Didn't you say earlier that she wasn't marrying him for love?"   
  
"Yes, but I didn't realize how awful this whole thing is. She doesn't even seem to like him. I just..." Kate trailed off.    
  
"What?" Will asked, leaning closer to her.    
  
"I see myself in her," Kate said, playing with her 'wedding' rings, "The person I was before I left. I felt like I was losing parts of myself bit by bit the longer I stayed. And Carrie, she's been here for years and years and I never thought, never considered that--"    
  
"That she was just like you," Will finished, nodding his understanding.    
  
"She says she has to marry him, that she wants to. I don't know if I should interfere with that. I don't know if it's my place. I mean I've been gone for ten years. I'm like a stranger in my own childhood home. I don't know how things work here anymore," Kate said dejectedly.     
  
"You may not know this place anymore, but you do know Carrie. She doesn't see another option for herself, so maybe we have to make one. In the end, it's her decision. All you can do is prepare her for what comes with it," Will said.    
  
"Yeah, I guess. Thanks, Will," she said.    
  
"No problem, Kate."   
  
Kate looked up at him, seemingly searching his face for something. Her eyes flickered down to his lips every once in a while. "We should... probably go back," she said slowly, her voice low.   
  
"Yeah," Will breathed, his gaze still trained on her. Will blinked a few times, snapping himself out of it. He stood up slowly and held out his hand to Kate who took it right away. He helped her to her feet and together they walked out of the woods and into the yard.

 

No one was in the yard when they got back, everyone presumably off doing chores.   
  
"What time is it?" Kate asked.   
  
Will pulled out his pocket watch. Kate had given it to him for his birthday a year ago. The back was engraved. "No you have no excuse but to show up to work on time. -Kate." Will never left his room without it.    
  
"About 12:00."   
  
"Dammit, we're probably late for lunch!" Kate said, taking off for the house. Will followed close behind. They entered through the back door, went through the kitchen, and arrived at the dining room. Everyone else was already seated, and Will was hyper aware of everyone's eyes on them.   
  
"Sorry we're late," she said, taking a seat near the far end of the table. Will noticed that there was no empty seat beside her, to he took the only free chair next to Virgil and Tom.    
  
The meal resumed along with its usual chatter.    
  
Virgil turned to Will, a sly smile on his face. "Why were you two late?"   
  
"She was just showing me the grounds," Will said. That was at least half true.    
  
"Mhm, whatever you say."   
  
Will rolled his eyes and dug into his food. He noticed Kate at the far side of the table. She was talking to the kids, and it seemed like they were begging her to tell them another of her stories. He watched her shake her head, but mouth 'later' to them discreetly. They seemed content with that answer and Will smiled.    
  
Lunch seemed to last forever. Will was occasionally pulled into one conversation or another, but mostly he just sat quietly and watched everyone else talk. Every once in a while, his attention drifted to Bernard, who was often speaking highly of (read: bragging about) his business deals. Will felt himself grit his teeth, which couldn't be good for them. He just hated that guy.    
  
Mercifully, lunch was over about an hour later. He helped clean up, not wanting Margaret to be saddled with extra work, and then walked outside with Kate. They stood up against the house, watching the wind make the trees surrounding the farm bend and sway. They didn't talk about much, and part of Will was worried that this was because of earlier. She had asked, and he never had time to tell her how he felt. He felt the weight of that on his chest, and felt as if he could burst with how much he wanted her to know.    
  
Will was interrupted from his thoughts by a small voice next to Kate on his left side. It was Annie, tapping Kate on the hand.   
  
"Aunty Kate, I tagged you, you're It!" Annie said, laughing in triumph. Kate, for her part, looked slightly bewildered, or at least she pretended to be. Will could see the spark behind her eye, a telltale sign she was faking it, for anyone who knew her well enough to look, that is.   
  
"Oh, I don't know if I--" Kate said, before cutting herself off. She hiked up her skirt and broke off into a run, chasing Annie who squealed with laughter. The other children heard the commotion and ran to join the game. Will watched from the side with a smile.   
  
Will was so absorbed with watching his partner play with the kids that he hasn't noticed someone walk over and stop next to him.    
  
"She sure is spirited, your wife," Bernard said, leaning up against the house. Will turned to him, dreading the conversation he was about to have with him.    
  
"Kate? Yeah, she is. It's one of the things I love about her," Will said, glancing at Kate again. She had caught Jack and was now running from him as the rest of the children scattered all around the yard, screaming and laughing.   
  
"I feel as if I owe you an apology, Mr. Pinkerton. I did not mean to imply earlier that your profession is somehow dishonorable. In fact, I've heard glowing praise about your agency from many of my business partners," Bernard said. Will fought the urge to tell him that he had not implied that at all. He had, however, implied that Kate, his father's right hand man, was somehow unfit for the job just because she had been born a woman.    
  
"Yes. My father chooses his agents well. I suppose that's why he chose Kate. She's the best, out of all of us," Will said, feeling almost smug about it. Out of everyone, his father put them together. He was damn lucky to have her.    
  
"Yes, well your father was always... progressive. I can't say I will tolerate the same ideals in my business, or in my house for that matter," Bernard said matter-of-factly.   
  
Will wanted to punch him in his perfect teeth, but he knew it would be bad for him and for Kate. "Spirit runs in their blood," Will said instead, gesturing to Kate and the children, "Don't think you're marrying the only person it skipped over."   
  
It was a warning, not a threat, but by the look Bernard gave him, he obviously regarded it as one.    
  
"I would thank you not to try and plant any silly... ideas in Caroline's head. You or your wife," Bernard said coldly.    
  
"We're going to be brothers-in-law soon enough, of course I wouldn't tell her anything new. The ideas she already has though, those are the ones you need to contend with," Will said, almost sweetly. He smirked at Bernard for a moment, who stared back, dumbstruck, then turned back to watch Kate and the children. Will heard footsteps leading away from him and he breathed a sigh of relief.    
  
Soon enough, Kate left the game, telling the disappointed children that she needed a break. She walked back to Will and slumped up against the wall. She reached a hand over and tapped Will's cheek with her fore and middle fingers.   
  
"Tag, you're It," she said, smiling.    
  
Will nudged her with his left shoulder and smiled back. Kate's expression suddenly soured, and Will fought the urge to reach out and comfort her.    
  
"Was that Bernard I saw here earlier?" she asked.   
  
"Yeah."   
  
"What did he want?"    
  
"He wanted to apologize. Had a funny way of doing it though," Will said.   
  
"He wanted to apologize, about earlier?" Kate asked, looking somewhat impressed.   
  
"Trust me, that apology is just about as real as my father's sense of humor," Will said.    
  
"Hmm."   
  
Will looked at her watching the children and he for the first time since he arrived he felt a little homesick. He missed the Dubois, he missed their cases, he missed drinking with Kenji and John. Most of all, though, he missed being with her, without any other people, without having to act like they were something they weren't.    
  
"Do you miss it?" Will asked.   
  
"What?" Kate said, turning back to him.   
  
"Kansas City?"   
  
Kate looked forward again. "Yeah, I think I do. I miss the cases, I guess I'm not used to having a vacation. And I miss John and Miyo and Annalee and Kenji."   
  
"It's only a few more days," Will reassured her.   
  
"I know," she said, looking at the far tree line. "This house, it's just as suffocating as I remember it to be. I guess it's a bit better now that I know who I am, who I want to be, but still."   
  
Will frowned. He had wondered since he got there why Kate had left in the first place. He turned to her, watching her stare off into space, and resolved to ask her.   
  
"Kate?"   
  
She turned to him, shaking herself out of her own thoughts. "Yes?"   
  
"Why-- why did you leave in the first place? What made you want to run away so badly that you finally did it?"   
  
Kate pursed her lips and looked away and for a moment, Will wondered if she was going to answer him at all. After a moment, however, she opened her mouth to speak.   
  
"I was just twenty at the time. I had come home from the town and I found my father and Henry's father sitting together in the dining room, discussing something. They didn't see me, and I was curious and observant, even back then, so I listened in. They were talking about some sort of business deal, a trade. Some land for a valuable asset, or the like. It didn't take me long to realize I was the asset they were referring to."   
  
"Shit..."   
  
"Yeah. Later, after Henry's father left, I confronted him about it over dinner. He... he told me it wasn't my place. I told him my life wasn't his. I went upstairs and packed up my stuff and left. My mom begged me not to go but I... I couldn't hear anything anyone was saying I just--"   
  


"You had to leave. I get it. Shit, Kate, I didn't--"    
  
"I know, you didn't know. I'm not always the most... open person, but I trust you, Will. Really, I do. I don't say it as often as I should but--"   
  
"You don't have to. I understand. Thank you so much, for telling me," Will said, he reached over and took her hand. She squeezed his lightly and looked at the children, who had grown bored of their game and had decided instead to try and catch butterflies in the meadow.   
  
Will watched them run and leap at the multicolored insects for a while, his mind somewhere else entirely. He felt guilty for bringing her here, for convincing her to come back to this house. He knew if he told her about that though, she would insist that she was the one who decided to come, that she can make her own decisions for herself. Of course, that did nothing to assuage his guilt.   
  
"Hey, Will? Will?" Kate said, waving her hand in front of his face.    
  
"Yeah?" Will said, snapping back to the present.   
  
"Are you okay? You looked troubled," she said, a concerned look gracing her features.   
  
"Yeah, I'm fine, just lost in thought, I guess."   
  
"Are you sure, you look--"   
  
"Kate! There you are, I've been looking for you," Mary called out, she made her way across the lawn and placed a hand on Kate's upper arm.   
  
"The ladies and I are going to wash and dry the linens and we could use your help," she said.   
  
"Yeah, of course--" she turned to Will-- "I'll be back soon."   
  
"Go ahead, I'll watch the kids for a while," he said, giving her an encouraging smile.   
  
She walked off with Mary and Will watched her leave. She disappeared from view as she walked behind the house, and Will turned his attention back to the children.   
  


* * *

  
  
Mary lead her to the front porch where Carrie, Susan, and Myra sat in rocking chairs, huge basins filled with soapy water sitting in front of them. They held washboards and wet pieces of fabric, using the boards to scrub the fabric clean. Kate walked up the steps and sat in a free chair. Mary handed her a washboard and she set to work with a tablecloth that was soaking in the basin.   
  
"So Carrie, has mother explained what will transpire on your, uh, wedding night," Myra asked. The other women, excluding Kate, suppressed their giggles and blushed slightly.    
  
"She did a little," Carrie said, looking down at her lap. Kate could tell she was a little embarrassed.    
  
"I'm sure she just told you the basics. What goes where, yes?" Mary asked.   
  
"Yes, that was about it," Carrie said, her face growing impossibly red.   
  
"Yes, well Mother, G-d love her, has always been a tad... prudish. And men can be so peculiar about what happens in bed, it really varies from man to man," Mary said wisely.    
  
"Yes, you know, when Tom gets to wanting it, he will come up behind me, push my hair aside, and nibble my ear a bit," Susan said. The women laughed a bit, being sure to watch their volume for fear of their mother hearing their conversation.    
  
"Virgil just gives me this look, see. It's almost as if his eyelids are drooping. It's rather odd," Myra said, giggling.    
  
Kate laughed uncomfortably. She wouldn't say that she was glad to hear about what happens in her brothers' beds. In fact, she was sure she never wanted to hear anything of the sort ever again. The rest of the women seemed perfectly content to discuss it. The only person who looked as uncomfortable as she felt was Carrie, who looked down at her lap.    
  
Kate placed a hand on her arm. Carrie looked up at her and Kate gave her an encouraging smile. She hoped it didn't portray the depth of her grief for her sister. Carrie wasn't ready for this, she didn't really want this. Not the marriage, not the sex, none of it.    
  
"What about you, Kate? Any odd things Will does?" Susan asked, a mischievous glint in her eye.   
  
Kate's eyes widened and her cheeks reddened in embarrassment. How was she supposed to respond to that?    
  
"Um... besides never picking up his clothes off the floor and using too much hair pomade, nothing," Kate said.    
  
"You know that's not what we meant, now come on. Spill," Susan said.    
  
"Um, I don't think--"   
  
"Really, Kate shouldn't have to if she doesn't want to," Carrie said.   
  
"Oh, come on, Kate. Just tell us," Myra pleaded.   
  
"Fine, fine. He, um, puts his arms around my waist, see, and he just runs his fingers along there. It's... nice," Kate said, hoping that would appease them. She just said the first thing that popped into her mind, something that sounded nice and run-of-the-mill enough not to warrant further questioning.     
  
The women nodded in understanding and Kate relaxed, knowing they were no longer focused on her. Kate continued washing the wet fabric in her hands, getting caught up in the monotonous motion of it. She let her mind wander. She couldn't pretend she hadn't thought about Will that way, once or twice. Earlier at the well being one of them. She tried to ignore how each little touch, each lingering glance, made her feel. When he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, or brushed his hand against hers, she felt her heart start to beat faster and her cheeks start to warm up. And she wondered if he felt the same things.    
  
She was in love with him.   
  
The realization hit her so quickly and suddenly, it stole her breath away. Of course she was, it was so obvious. Right in front of her nose and she hadn't even seen it. Kate suddenly felt a spike of fear. She hadn't loved anyone since Charlie, and he had died because of her. She was so terrified to move on, yet she felt as if there should have been nothing to move on from. She was confused and heartbroken and she couldn't even show it or talk about it with anyone. And then Will had waltzed on into her life and wormed his way into her heart and she hadn't even realized he was doing it until he was already there, permanently affixed to her. And she told him about Charlie and she took him to her childhood home and she almost kissed him, for G-d's sake! And there she was, in the middle of doing laundry, realizing that she loved her partner with everything she had.    
  
Kate lost her grip on the fabric and it fell back into the soapy water.    
  
"Kate, are you okay?" Mary asked.   
  
Kate blinked rapidly and nodded her head. "Uh, yes, I'm fine. Just fine."   
  
"Susan suggested hanging these up and then going to work on handicrafts, would you care to join us?" Myra asked.   
  
"Um, why don't you go ahead, I'll just hang all of these up," Kate said. She needed some time alone, to think some things over.   
  
"Are you sure, it really isn't a job for one person. The tablecloths are awful large," Carrie said.   
  
"I'll be fine, and it'll occupy me for a while. I've never been one for needlepoint, anyways," Kate said, making a shooing motion with her hands.   
  
"If you're sure..." Mary said, standing up.   
  
"I'm sure."   
  
The women piled all of their washing together and placed it in a dry basket. Mary handed her a tin filled with clothespins, which Kate gladly accepted. Kate watched as the rest of the women walked to the front door and entered the house. With one last glance from Carrie, Kate was finally blissfully alone.    
  
Kate hauled the basket of wet fabric and the clothespin tin over to the clothesline. She set them both down and picked up the first piece of fabric. She pinned it to the line easily, as it wasn't very large. The next one was a bit bigger, and it became difficult for her to pin it to the line without it dragging on the ground. She lifted one end to the line and held the other in her arms. She was soaking her dress for the second time that day, but she couldn't focus on that. She had just pinned the right end of it when the bundle in her arms began to slip. She scrambled to catch it, when she felt a steadying pair of hands grab onto the fabric. She looked up to see Virgil smiling at her, and she let out a breath.   
  
"Thanks," she said, allowing him to help hold it up so she could pin it.   
  
"You're welcome. You know, you always bit off more than you could chew, even when you were little," he said, reminiscent.   
  
"And you were always too careful. Never taking any risks," she teased.    
  
"No, I wasn't much for danger, of any kind. I mean, you were the one who ran away, not me," he said.   
  
"You never had any reason to," Kate said quietly. They continued for a moment in silence. Kate held up part of a sheet with her left hand and pinned it with her right, giving Virgil a good look at her ring finger.   
  
"Hey, are those our grandmother's rings?" he asked.   
  
"Oh, uh, yeah. We wanted to be traditional," Kate said, floundering a little.   
  
"Never thought you were the type," he said.    
  
Kate looked up at him and for a moment, she wondered if he knew, if he could see through their charade. And for an even briefer moment, she wanted to tell him, more than anything.   
  
"Truth is," she said, making her story up on the spot, "we got married pretty quickly, no time to buy rings."   
  
"Well, like they say, when you know, you know," Virgil said, pinning up the last sheet on the line. Kate hummed in agreement and retrieved the empty basket and leftover pins from the ground.   
  
"Thank you, Virgil, for your help," Kate said.   
  
Virgil kissed her on the cheek. "What are brothers for, other than to annoy the hell out of their sisters?"   
  
With a wink, Virgil walked off in the opposite direction. Kate suddenly felt a question burning in the back of her mind, and before she could rethink it, she was calling out for him to stop.   
  
Virgil turned around to face her. "Katie?"   
  
"What do you think of Bernard?" Kate asked quickly.   
  
Virgil walked back and stood in front of her. "What do I think of him? Well, he's not ill-tempered, that's for sure. I don't think anyone would ever accuse him of being modern. He seems like a good man. Why do you ask?"    
  
"I'm worried about Carrie," Kate said. "I don't think she really wants this. Will agrees with me, but he doesn't know Carrie like we do. What if this is another of father's... fabrications? What if--?"   
  
"What if he's doing to her what he tried to do to you?" Virgil said, nodding his understanding.    
  
"Yeah."   
  
"I still remember the day you left. I couldn't believe he would do something like that," Virgil said. He took Kate's hands in his and have them a squeeze.    
  
"You helped me pack my things. I never thanked you for that," Kate said quietly.    
  
"You had to leave, I understood that. Seeing you now, the person you've become, I'm glad you did, " Virgil said. Kate smiled up at him, and then frowned a little bit.   
  
"I just feel like I should be doing something to stop her," Kate said.   
  
"Kate, relationships are different to the people in them. You don't really know how two people are together, really. Whatever Carrie does, it has to be her decision, and we'll support her either way," Virgil said, placing a hand on Kate's shoulder.   
  
Kate suddenly felt tired, tired of the house, tired of the pretending, just plain exhausted. She stifled a yawn.   
  
"Why don't you go and take a nap? You look exhausted," Virgil suggested.   
  
"I'm fine, really."   
  
"Come on, Kate. You're a terrible liar," Virgil said. She didn't want to let him know how wrong he was.    
  
"Sure, okay. I'll go," she conceded. With one last smile she walked towards the door. She found her way up the steps and to her bedroom, mercifully without running into anyone else. When she got there she collapsed on the bed, not even bothering to remove her clothes, only remaining conscious long enough to remove her shoes. Her eyelids drooped and she fell asleep to the sound of the children playing in the backyard and the light breeze rustling the trees.    
  


* * *

  
  
"Kate, wake up!"   
  
Kate's eyes opened suddenly. Everything was blurry, at first, until her eyes focused on the room and Will standing next to the bed.    
  
"Is something wrong? Are you okay?" Kate asked quickly, stifling a yawn and sitting up in bed.   
  
"Everything's fine, I've just been looking for you all over. Dinner is in 10 minutes," Will said.    
  
Kate swung her legs over the bed and stood, remembering that she had taken her shoes off. She located them near the bed and sat back down to slip them down and do up the laces. She gave Will a smile for waiting patiently and walked towards the door.    
  
"Kate," Will said. Kate turned around to face him.   
  
"Yes?"   
  
"Your hair, it's, uh..." Will said. He moved to stand in front of her and reached a tentative hand up to smooth the flyaway hairs that surrounded her face. She leaned into his touch slightly. Spurned on by her reaction, he moved his fingers to lightly stroke her cheek. She took in a sharp breath but didn't pull away. Will leaned in a little until he could feel her breath on his cheeks.    
  
"We should... probably go to dinner," Will whispered, eyes lidded.     
  
"Yes, we should," Kate replied, sounding unconvinced. They stood still for just a few moments, before Kate blinked and pulled back, and the moment was broken. Will cleared his throat. Kate had to move a little closer to him to turn around and open the door, and she felt the mere inches between them more than she ever had before. They walked out into the hallway and down the steps together, being careful not to brush hands along the way. Kate wasn't sure she could stand it.   
  
They arrived at the table and sat down next to each other. They were the first ones there. They purposely avoided looking at each other as everyone else sat down and began to eat. Carrie looked at them curiously from across the table.    
  
"Are you two alright? You look like you've seen a ghost," Carrie said.   
  
"Oh, we're fine. Don't worry," Kate assured. Will nodded in agreement, neither of them looking like they really believed it. Carrie, mercifully, didn't pry any further.    
  
The dinner seemed to drag on for hours, and Kate wished she could be anywhere else. The conversation ebbed and flowed around her and she was oblivious to all of it. She and Will had almost kissed. Again. What the hell was happening to her? Kissing him hadn't even crossed her mind before they left Kansas City and now?    
  
Well, actually that was a lie. It had crossed her mind occasionally, in fleeting moments. Gone before she could grasp the thoughts and even begin to wonder why she thought them at all.    
  
But there she was, in her childhood home, and all of her thoughts had finally caught up to her. How had she even gotten herself into this situation? She shouldn't have let Will talk her into coming and bringing him along with her. Although, she had to wonder if this would've happened at home rather than there. Would they have ended up in the same place eventually? Dancing around each other until someone finally decided to take a chance? Kate wanted to say no, to say that her family just brought up a lot of feelings, that emotions were running high, but some part of her knew that wouldn't be true.    
  
"Kate, we're going to do a music night. Would you like to join us?" Margaret asked. Kate felt a sudden rush of nostalgia as she thought of all the nights she had spent dancing around the living room, listening to her father or Tom play the fiddle.    
  
"Yes, of course," she said. Will shot her a questioning glance as everyone gathered up their plates. Kate noticed she hadn't eaten much, but she didn't feel hungry.    
  
"Tom usually plays the fiddle and we all dance. We used to do it a lot when we were kids. I guess they want to do it one last time before the last kid moves out," Kate said. She felt a little pain in her stomach as she realized that she never really had an official 'last music night.'    
  
They placed their dishes in the wash bin and went to the living room where Tom and Virgil were already moving the furniture to line the walls. Kate's father brought in his fiddle which he scrupulously inspected and tuned. He passed it over to Tom who lifted it to his shoulder and played a few experimental notes. Satisfied with the sound, he lifted his bow once more and moved it across the strings. He formed his fingers on the neck of the fiddle, creating the notes and playing them out. The children giggled and grabbed their parents to dance with. Kate and Will watched and smiled at them as they twirled around.    
  
"Aunty Kate," a small voice said. Kate looked down to see Cal.    
  
Kate crouched down to be on his level. "Yes, Cal?"   
  
"Will you dance with me?" he asked, his voice soft.   
  
"Of course," Kate said. The music was jovial, like the kind that usually played in the Dubois, and Kate and Cal danced around, laughing and spinning. Will smiled as he watched her, a warmth spreading throughout his chest.    
  
Tom finished the song with one long note and everyone clapped. He gave a small bow then straightened up, lifted his bow, and began another song. This song was slower, and Will watched as the couples in the room paired up and began a slow sway. There were no slow dances back at the Dubois. If you wanted to dance with a partner, you both had to learn to keep up. Will watched them, almost entranced. Will didn't even notice when Kate left the floor and stood next to him. She stepped into his line of view and extended her hand.    
  
"Do you want to dance?" she asked.    
  
"I don't know, Kate. This isn't exactly what I signed up for," he said, quirking an eyebrow.    
  
"You signed up to keep appearances," she said.   
  
"Well, as long as we're keeping up appearances," Will said, talking her hand. She led them over to the left of the room to an empty spot. Will placed one of his hands on her lower back and took her right hand. She rested her free hand on his shoulder.    
  
"It's funny, all the times we could've gone dancing..." Will said.   
  
"It's in my parents living room in front of literally my whole family," Kate finished.    
  
Will smiled. "Not exactly how I imagined it, but still nice."   
  
"So you imagined us dancing," Kate said.   
  
"Once or twice, maybe."   
  
"You know, you could've ask me to go out dancing," Kate said.    
  
"Would you have really said yes, before this week?" Will asked.    
  
"I don't... I don't know, Will." Kate said, looking away.   
  
"I don't know either," Will said.    
  
A moment passed and they both looked back at each other.    
  
"Kate--"   
  
"Will--"   
  
"Sorry, you go first," Kate said.   
  
"No, no it's fine, really," Will countered.   
  
Kate took in a breath. "Will, earlier we... earlier we almost--"   
  
"Kissed," Will said. It sounded so concrete now that one of them had said it, so final. Neither one could deny it now, nor play it off like some fluke.    
  
"Yeah, kissed."   
  
Another moment of silence.    
  
"Earlier, in the bedroom, I asked you if you wanted to-- to kiss me. Did you?" Kate said. Her eyes shone with with something like hope.    
  
"I-- yes. I did," Will said. And there it was, everything out in the open.   
  
"And do you, now?" Kate asked.    
  
Will let go of her hand and lifted his now free one to cup her cheek. "Kate, I--"   
  
"Alright, I think it's time for bed," Mary said, picking up Jack and placing him on her hip.    
  
"I agree," Virgil said, looking over at Lisa who was asleep in her mother's arms.    
  
"They're right. Busy day tomorrow, for all of us," Margaret said. She kissed her children and grandchildren on the cheek one by one and then ascended the steps to her room, followed by her husband. Everyone else followed after quietly, careful not to wake the sleeping children, Kate and Will among them. Kate couldn't help but feel a little frustrated at being interrupted, again.    
  
The walk down the hallway to her room never seemed longer. They opened the door and entered the room, remembering what had almost transpired there just a few hours before. Kate shivered a little and looked back at Will.    
  
"We should, uh, get ready for bed," Kate said.    
  
"Yes, we should," Will agreed.    
  
The moved around the room, removing clothing and donning nightclothes, finally sitting next to each other on the bed. Kate looked down at her hands in her lap and watched herself fiddling with her 'wedding' rings. Will took hold of one of her hands, causing her to look up at him.   
  
"Kate," he whispered, looking down at her.   
  
"I don't... I don't think we're going to be interrupted anymore," Kate said.    
  
"No..."   
  
"So I guess there's no one to stop us from... continuing what we were doing earlier," Kate said, leaning forward.    
  
"I guess not. You know, Kate, if you wanted to kiss me so much you could've just said so," Will said.   
  
"G-d, would you please stop talking?" Kate said.   
  
"Make me," Will whispered, leaning so close that his breath ghosted over her lips.   
  
Kate planted her lips on his, cutting him off. Will immediately reciprocated, his heart beating so quickly that he could hear blood pumping in his ears. Will reached his hand up to cup her cheek, just as he had when they had danced. She shifted closer to him on the bed, and Will placed his other hand on her waist in response.    
  
Kate pulled away for a moment, gasping for air. She was a vision, hair frazzled and lips red. They both breathed heavily, their chests rising and falling rhythmically.    
  
"Kate," Will breathed, running his thumb over her cheekbone.    
  
"Kiss me, Will," she implored, demanding as always. Will needed no further invitation. He leaned forward and planted his lips on hers. She kissed back with fervor, moving her lips feverishly against his. Will felt a moan building in his throat at the intensity of it. Kate never did anything by halves.    
  
She pressed her body to his, practically sitting in his lap. Will felt her hands move to his chest, fumbling with the buttons on his vest. He pulled away just for a moment to help her undo them. He then pulled the whole thing off and threw it somewhere across the room. His lips were back on hers and he felt her run her tongue along the seam of his lips. G-d, where did she learn how to do that? Right, other husband. Will pushed the thought away. Best not to think of your partner's past lovers when you were about to have sex with her.    
  
Wait, were they really going to...? Will pulled away from her just as she was tugging at the hem of his shirt.    
  
"Why-- why did you stop? Do you not want to--" Kate said, looking bewildered and slightly embarrassed. He hated that look on her.    
  
"No, I do. More than anything, I just need to know if you wanted to-- if you wanted us to--"   
  
"Will, I want this, really," she said, looking at him sincerely.   
  
"G-d, you're beautiful," Will whispered. "I've never told you that before. Even when you're covered in dirt from some experiment or in some disguise. You're so damn beautiful."   
  
Kate kissed him softly, a harsh contrast from their other kisses that night. She reached back down to the bottom of his shirt and lifted. He shrugged out of it, throwing it in the general direction of his previously discarded vest.

 

Suddenly he was bare chested and although he knew Kate had seen him like that before, he still felt somewhat exposed. Kate ran a hand down his chest, over his pectorals and stomach, coming to rest on the white scar to the right of his navel. His souvenir from his fight with Jesse James. Will shuddered at the contact, and fought the urge to squirm away. Kate watched him, noticing his discomfort, and with one last look at him, she lowered her head and pressed a kiss to the raised skin. Will moaned quietly at the sensation.    
  
"Kate," he said, his voice breathy. He reached up to the neck of her nightgown, pausing for a moment. "Is this alright?" Will asked, unsure.    
  
Kate nodded. He unbuttoned the buttons at the top of her gown, making it loose enough for her to just slip out of it. She moved off of him and stood up. Will watched in awe as she slipped off her nightgown. Her skin was smooth and milky white and Will longed to touch every inch of her. She climbed back onto the bed, looking almost as shy and exposed as he felt earlier. That wouldn't do at all.   
  
Will gently pressed her into the mattress. Kate went willingly, her breath coming in short gasps. Will kissed her lips for a moment then moved down to lave at her neck, pressing sucking kisses here and there. Kate was making the sweetest noises and Will was sure he'd never forget them as long as he lived.    
  
He moved farther down, pressing kisses to the tops of her breasts. He moved between them, leaving kisses in his wake. Finally, he reached her naval, and looked back up at her. He was suddenly aware of how constricting his breeches had become, and he was sure Kate was aware as well by the way she sat up, leaning back on her elbows and demanded he take them off. Will, not wanting to disappoint her, did as she asked and then positioned himself above her.    
  
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Will asked once more, lifting one hand to brush the stray hairs away from her face.    
  
"Yes, G-d, just hurry up," she said.   
  
"Even doing what we're doing, you're unpleasant," Will teased.    
  
"Oh, I can be pleasant, just not around you," she said as Will positioned himself at her entrance.   
  
"Well, lucky for both of us, I can be pleasant all the time," Will said.   
  
"Prove it," Kate said, barely a whisper. Will leaned down to kiss her as he pressed in. He groaned at the sensation and Kate grunted as he pushed in all the way.   
  
"Are-- are you alright?" Will panted.   
  
Kate nodded silently. She moved her hips slightly, egging him on. Will heard the message loud and clear as he pulled out almost completely and pushed forward again. He did this again and again, finding a rhythm that they both seemed to enjoy. Kate wrapped her legs around his lower back, and the resulting angle made her gasp and moan breathlessly.   
  
Will pressed kisses all over her neck and face. He felt the end coming quickly and he set his jaw, attempting to stave it off as long as possible. Kate, observant as always, noticed this and moved against him more.   
  
"Let go, Will. It's alright," she said. She reached her hand up to stroke his cheek. He pressed forward again, this time at a different angle from before, one that made Kate's eyes widen. She tipped her head back and moaned loudly. Will watched her in awe. Had she just..?   
  
"Kate," he moaned, "Kate, I-- I--"   
  
"Let go," she ordered. Will pressed forward one last time and spent himself inside her. He slumped forward, covering her with his body. He caught himself on his forearms, somehow maintaining the presence of mind to worry about crushing her. He pulled out slowly, the sensation almost overpowering. He then rolled over onto his back. They both stared at the ceiling, panting.    
  
Will was the first to turn back. He took her in. Her tangled hair, her flushed cheeks, her pale neck dotted with bruises. Will wanted to reach out and touch her again, but he hesitated.    
  
"How... how was it?" Will asked instead.

 

Kate turned to face him. "Pleasant," she said with a smile. Will laughed, still slightly breathless, and reached out to pull her close to him. She wrapped herself around his side, placing her head on his chest.    
  
"This... changes things," Kate said.    
  
"In some ways, but we'll still be partners, right?" Will asked.   
  
"If Allan decides to let us stay together after he figures out about this," Kate said. Will gave her a strange look.   
  
"You really want to tell him we made love before I even courted you properly? Because I don't think he'll take to kindly to it," Will said.    
  
"No, just us, our relationship. What if he thinks it will hinder our ability to solve cases? What if he thinks it will be a conflict of interest?"   
  
"He won't split us up, we're too valuable."   
  
"He has plenty of agents," Kate said.   
  
"Well, you're his best, he's always said that. And we work well together. We had a bond, even before tonight and it'll still be there tomorrow morning and every day after. We catch criminals and put them away and we're damn good at it. If my dad can't see that, he's a fool," Will said. He pressed his nose into Kate's hair, pressing light kisses to the dark locks.   
  
"Maybe you're right, maybe I'm just being paranoid," Kate said, tightening her hold on him.   
  
"No, it's okay to be worried. But not right now. Now, it's time to sleep because I'm exhausted and you owe me that because you're the one who exhausted me in the first place," Will said, closing his eyes and laying back.   
  
"As I recall, it was a team effort," Kate said, closing her eyes, feeling sleep start to take over.   
  
"Whatever you say, Mrs. Warne," Will whispered. He felt Kate's breaths become deep and slow and soon he drifted off as well to the sound of crickets outside their window and Kate's even breathing.    
  


* * *

  
  
Will awoke to the sound of someone pounding on his door. He shot up in bed, and next to him Kate opened her eyes and threw off the covers. She was still naked, never having retrieved her nightgown from the floor. Will was suddenly reminded of what had transpired the night before, and his face flushed in spite of himself.  
  
"Kate, get up! The wedding is in an hour and I need help with my dress!" Carrie called from the other side of the door.   
  
"Just a minute!" Kate called. She got out of bed and scrambled to put on her slip and lace up her stays. She put on her pretty light pink dress and ran a brush through her hair, resolving to fix it properly later. She walked to the door, and then, remembering that Will was there, turned back to him.  
  
"We should, uh, talk about last night, right?" Kate asked.  
  
"After the wedding, we'll talk," Will promised.  
  
Kate reached out to grasp the door handle when Will called out of her.  
  
"Wait!"   
  
"What?" Kate asked, turning around.  
  
Will walked over to her, placed a hand on her cheek, and kissed her. Her eyes fluttered closed and Will deepened the kiss slightly. He moved his hand to her waist just as Carrie began to pound on the door again.  
  
"Hurry up, Katie! How long does it take to dress?"  
  
They pulled away from each other, blushing slightly.   
  
"Later?" she asked.  
  
"Later."   
  
Kate opened up the door and with one last look at Will, left the room.   
  


* * *

  
  
Kate watched as Mary pulled the laces on Carrie's corset tight. Carrie took in a sharp gasp and gritted her teeth. When Mary was satisfied, she tied the laces together at the top. Then, with Kate's assistance, they helped Carrie into her dress, smoothing out the creases as they went. She looked gorgeous, like royalty, but her eyes looked a little sad, her smile not quite meeting them.    
  
"I can handle her hair," Kate said to Mary. "Why don't you check on everything downstairs?"   
  
"Of course," Mary said. She hugged Carrie tightly for a moment, and then let her go.   
  
"You look so beautiful, so grown up. Any man would be lucky to marry you," Mary said, tears in her eyes. She pressed a kiss to Carrie's cheek and left the room. Kate smiled at her and led her to the chair in front of her vanity. Kate ran her fingers through her sister's curly, brown hair and reached over to pick up a pin from the table. She set to work pinning up her sister's locks into an updo.    
  
Kate plucked another pin from the table. She reached for a stray curl and was about to pin it up, but she felt herself stop short. Carrie was going to get married. Really married. To a man she didn't love. She was who Kate could have been if she hadn't run away. Kate felt the sinking feeling of dread as she stood there, frozen in place.   
  
"Kate, are you okay?" Carrie asked. Kate could see her look of confusion in the mirror.   
  
"Are you really going to go through with this?" Kate asked, her voice barely above a whisper.   
  
Carrie closed her eyes. "We've already had this conversation. I have no choice."   
  
"Yes, you do. Everyone has choices," Kate said, placing the hair pin back down.    
  
"No, they don't. You're lucky, Kate. You found a husband who will let you do what you want. Not every husband would do that," Carrie said dismissively.   
  
"So don't get married," Kate said.   
  
"Be serious."   
  
"I am being serious. Find a job somewhere, earn your living. Support yourself," Kate said.    
  
"Not everyone is eccentric enough to hire a woman," Carrie said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.    
  
"You obviously haven't been to Kansas City."   
  
"No, but I've heard enough about it to know that the only jobs there for women are in houses of ill repute!"   
  
"Not all of them! My friend Annalee runs a hotel and bar. My friend Miyo works in said bar. I've met female nurses, female secretaries, female land surveyors, even female outlaws. Carrie, things are changing out there. I got that job on my own, I kept it on my own. For God's sake, I'm not even--"    
  
Kate cut herself off. Married. She was going to say married.    
  
"Not even what?" Carrie asked.   
  
"Nothing. It's nothing," Kate said, looking anywhere else but at her sister.   
  
"Kate," Carrie said, turning around in her seat, "I appreciate what you're saying, I do. But I have to do this, I don't have the strength to make it out there. Not on my own."   
  
"But you do, I know you do. And you don't ever have to be alone, not again. Just... think about what I said, okay? This marriage is binding. Till death do you part. You have to decide if that's really what you want, and if it isn't, can you live with that? Because you'll have to, for the rest of your life," Kate said solemnly.    
  
"I--"   
  
"Come on, girls. The ceremony is starting in ten minutes," Margaret said, opening the door. Kate picked up the last of the pins from the table and finished up her sister's hair. Carrie stood up and faced her mother, brushing non-existent dust from her dress and looking up at her mother.    
  
Margaret's eyes filled with tears. "My darling girl. You look so beautiful."   
  
"Mother," Carrie said, sounding slightly embarrassed. She took a handkerchief of her vanity desk and handed it to her mother who dabbed at her eyes with the cloth.    
  
"I'm sorry, it's just-- all of my children, out of the house. Even the baby of the family," Margaret said. She extended her arms and her daughters dutifully stepped into them, letting her wrap her arms around them. After a moment, she let go and the two women stepped backwards.   
  
"Goodness, the time. We have to go," Margaret said. She ushered her daughters out the door and into the kitchen.    
  
×/×   
  
Will sat down on a chair carried into the yard. He watched as the minister sorted through his papers and opened up his bible. Will didn't even notice when Virgil sat down next to him.    
  
"I remember when we were younger, Kate and I used to climb those trees right over there. Carrie would always stare up at us and beg us to help her onto the higher branches. But she was too young, and she couldn't hold on tight enough. We just wanted to protect her, we always did," Virgil said, looking over at the treeline.    
  
"Do you think she's doing the right thing?" Will asked.    
  
"I don't know. Carrie was always strong-willed, independent. She never did anything she didn't want to do, but now? I wonder if that spark has burned out," Virgil said, sounding melancholy.   
  
"It never burnt out in Kate," Will pointed out hopefully.   
  
"No, it didn't."   
  
"Say, Virgil?" Will asked.   
  
"Yes?"    
  
"How come you're so supportive of the girls? I mean I wasn't exactly pleased with the idea of a female detective when I met Kate, and I know how your father views the matter," Will said.    
  
"Growing up around these girls, it doesn't make too much sense to me to think any other way. Kate was my closest friend, she told me everything, at least when we were younger," Virgil said.   
  
"And when you were older?"    
  
"Kate became closed off. Secretive. I think I was the only one who noticed. She didn't smile like she used to. I think it was about the time she turned 17. She must've caught on to our father's plans for her. Or maybe she just felt cooped up, trapped. She knew what she would have to do. Get married. She didn't want to do that."   
  
"No, she didn't," Will said.    
  
Will heard some footsteps behind him. Mary's husband, Tom, and Virgil and Tom's wives walked towards them and occupied the seats surrounding them. He stood up and turned around to watch Mary herself walk down the aisle and stand near the minister. She wore a modest blue dress with a green pendant resting neatly near where the collar of her dress was open. Her long, brown hair was put up with a few ringlets loose. Margaret came next, sitting at the front near to where Mary was standing. She wore an old-fashioned, stately looking dress, her greying hair curled and pinned back, similar to how Kate usually did her's.    
  
Speaking of Kate, it was her turn to walking down the grassy aisle. Will's breath caught in his throat as he realized how beautiful she looked. Her hair out of its usual pins, and her loose curls spilled down her back. A dab of rouge accentuated her high cheekbones (not that he hadn't noticed them before). She looked fetching. Scratch that, she looked beautiful. Will wondered if he would ever be able to look at her again and not think that. Kate passed him, glancing quickly at him before looking forward again. Somehow, in the time when Will was watching the family fill in the seats, Bernard had moved to stand to the right of the minister.    
  
Finally, Carrie and her father walked down the aisle arm in arm. Will watched Carrie closely, seeing her steel her expression into a smile. He couldn't imagine what was going through her head in that moment. He glanced over at Kate, who looked strained, as if she was fighting the urge to say something, anything to stop this. But she didn't, and the wedding began.    
  
The minister addressed them all and began reading sections from the bible, all of which Will never read himself. Kate had never been much for religion, so he assumed she was thinking the same thing.    
  
The minister closed his well-worn copy of the bible, and looked out at the small crowd of people. "Now, if there is anyone here who believes that this couple should not be joined in marriage, speak now or forever hold your peace," he said.    
  
Everything was silent for a moment except for the chirping of birds and the rustling of leaves. Will felt his heart pounding as he waited for someone to say something. He knew they wouldn't though, not even Kate would. The only one who could say anything now was Carrie herself.   
  
"Well, if there are no objections--"   
  
"Stop!" Carrie said, cutting the minister off.   
  
Will took in a sharp breath as everyone focused their attention on Carrie.    
  
"Stop. I can't do this," she said, breathing heavily.    
  
"Caroline, darling, what is going on?" Bernard said. He tried to take hold of her wrist, but she yanked her hand free.    
  
Margaret and Mary stood up abruptly. "Caroline, what has gotten into you?" Margaret asked, sounding slightly desperate.    
  
"Her corset must be laced too tight, Mother. She must be confused," Mary said unconvincingly.   
  
"I'm not confused! This is the first time in months that I'm seeing clearly! Can't you see that you're doing the same thing to me that you tried to do to Kate? I can't go through with it!" Carrie yelled.    
  
"This isn't your place," Nicholas said, his voice even and low.    
  
"Not my place? It's my life! My marriage! I have to spend my whole life with someone I don't love and somehow that's not my place?" Carrie said, throwing her arms up in the air.   
  
Kate started to speak but Carrie cut her off. "You were right, Kate. You were right, I can't do this. I can't go through with it, I'm sorry."   
  
The last bit was directed towards her mother and Bernard. She gave them a fierce but apologetic look and proceeded to walk quickly down the aisle and back to the house. She swung the back door open and let it shut behind her with a loud bang.    
  
Everyone was silent for a moment, just watching the unmoving house. Will's heart was beating wildly and he felt a sense of foreboding as Kate's father turned to look at her.   
  
"I knew we shouldn't have invited her back," he said, his voice low and gravely. Everyone turned to look at Kate, whose eyes went wide in surprise.   
  
"W-what?" Kate stammered.   
  
Kate's mother spoke up, her face red in anger. "Don't act like you're confused, you planted those ideas in her head! You had to be the one to mess everything up, just like you did ten years ago!"    
  
Will stood abruptly, ready to step in, but Kate raised a hand to stop him.    
  
"It's her life. It's her life and it was my life and if there's one thing in this world we deserve to have control over it's our own future. That's why I left. That's why I couldn't marry Henry. That's why I joined the agency. And it was the best decision I've ever made," Kate said.   
  
"You were always so obedient when you were little, so soft-spoken. What happened to you?" Margaret asked, shaking her head in disappointment.   
  
"You never knew me well at all, did you?" Kate whispered.    
  
"Never knew you? I'm your mother, I know you better than anyone in the world!"   
  
"No, you don't! You didn't know me then and you don't know me now! Everything I've said here, everything I've done you've just took it at face value! I'm not even married, for God sakes! And you all believed it just because you wanted to! But I doesn't matter anymore, I'm done. I'll be gone by tomorrow morning and you won't have to worry about me ruining things anymore," Kate said, and stormed off in the direction of the woods.    
  
Will watched in shock as she disappeared into the treeline and everyone's eyes turned to him.   
  
"Is it true?" Virgil asked, eyes shining in concern.   
  
Will took a deep breath. "She thought it would be easier to swallow, if I pretended to be her husband. And that if I came, she would have backup if things went sour. I guess she was right."   
  
"Will--"   
  
"I'm going to go find her. We'll be gone tomorrow. I'm sorry it had to come to this," Will said. He followed after Kate, wracking his brain to remember the path to the clearing in the woods where he was sure she'd be. He felt everyone's eyes on his back but he pushed on into the brush.   
  


* * *

  
  
Kate was sitting down on the grass in the middle of the clearing, the sunlight streaming through the gaps in the trees and glinting of her hair and jewelry. Will approached her carefully, stepping around any sticks or leaves that he found in his path. He sat down next to her, the rustling of his clothing alerting her to his presence.    
  
Kate looked over at him and then went back to staring straight ahead. "I thought you were someone else," she said, not sparing him a glance.    
  
"I think everyone just needs some time to cool down," Will said, trying to sound reassuring. Kate just shook her head sadly.    
  
"After ten years, they still haven't cooled down. What difference will an hour or a day make?"    
  
Kate sounded dejected and resigned at the same time, and Will wondered how someone could care so much and not at all in the same moment.    
  
"Kate, I--"   
  
Kate looked back at him, eyebrows knitted in concern.    
  
"I'm sorry. For bringing you here, for convincing you to come home," Will said, guilt turning his stomach making him ache all over.    
  
Kate shook her head softly, her silky brown hair rippling like water over her shoulders. She looked beautiful, the sun reflecting in her eyes and across the exposed skin of her neck and collarbones. For a moment, Will felt the guilt recede as he focused on her. But then she spoke again, and the moment was broken.   
  
"It's not-- it's not your fault, Will. Please don't blame yourself. Please, I couldn't bear it," Kate said, her admission flooring him as he noticed the tears welling in her eyes and the quivering of her shoulders. Will had only seen Kate cry twice: once when she told him about her first husband, and the second when he woke up in the hospital nursing a bullet wound and a wounded pride. It took a lot to get her to cry, and he'd already been the cause of it once, but something in Will told him that it wasn't about him this time, that this was something that Kate was working out on her own.   
  
Will placed a hand on her shoulder with the tentative hesitance of a new friend rather than a lover. Were they lovers? Will wasn't sure, but it wasn't the time nor the place to ask. Kate leaned into his hand and he wrapped his arm around her instead, pulling her close to his body and encouraging her to rest her head against his chest.    
  
She did just that and Will felt his shirt begin to dampen with her tears as sobs wracked her small frame. Will just held her quietly, through every earth-shattering sob  and waited until they died down enough for Kate to take a few deep, shuddering breaths and to calm down. She looked up at him, eyes red and shining, but she didn't pull away. Will looked down at her and recognized the same strength in her eyes that he's always seen. Kate was so strong, so incredibly good at reinventing herself over and over again, at picking up the pieces when she falls apart and making them into something new and even more beautiful than before.   
  
Will looked over in the direction of the house and shook his head, feeling an overwhelming sense of pity for everyone in that family who never took the time to look past Kate's façade.    
  
"What?" Kate asked, her voice a little hoarse from crying.    
  
"I feel bad for them," Will said honestly.    
  
"Why?"    
  
"Because they don't really know you. They don't know how kind and generous and intimidating and goddamn amazing you are, Kate. They don't know how tender you are when you let your guard down or-- or how fierce you can be when protecting the ones you love. They don't know anything about all of the little things that made me fall in love with you, Kate, and I feel so damn sorry for them because they knew you for years and never cherished their time with you and I swear to god I plan on cherishing our time together for the rest of my life," Will said, rambling on by the end.    
  
Kate sat up straighter, moving out of his embrace and Will suddenly felt self conscious, like he had done something terribly wrong. Kate looked at him curiously, her cheeks still flushed from crying.    
  
"You just... you just said that you love me," Kate said.    
  
"I, um, yeah, yes I did," Will said, with none of his usual charm or finesse.    
  
"Oh," Kate said, biting her lip and looking away.   
  
"You don't have to say anything, I didn't say it to hear it back. I said it because you need to know that I love you for who you are, not for who I want you to be."   
  
"I've spent so much time pretending to be someone else, at work and at home, that sometimes I forget what it means to be truly myself. I'm just... I'm just tired, Will. I want to go back to Kansas City," Kate said, learning against him again and sighing deeply.    
  
"Okay, we can do that," Will said, pressing a kiss to the top of Kate's head. Will stared up at the trees, leaning his weight on his hands. Will felt tired too, but not in the same way as he felt his eyes slip shut and the world turn dark around him.   
  


* * *

  
  
Will woke up to the sun to the sun shining directly in his eyes. He blinked and moved to sling an arm over his face, but found that it was pinned to the ground and prickling with lack of movement. Will turned his head away from the sun and opened his eyes again to see Kate resting against his chest, Will's arm circling her body.    
  
Will carefully reached into his pocket and pulled out his pocket watch. 5:15 PM. Will sighed. They had slept for most of the day, but maybe it was easier that way. The longer they stayed away from Kate's parents, the better he felt. Kate shifted slightly in his arms and her eyes opened slowly. Will smiled at her and she buried her face in his shoulder.    
  
"What time is it?" Kate mumbled.    
  
"5:15," Will said.     
  
Kate moved out of his arms and rolled onto her back. "I'm starving, but I really, really don't want to go down there," Kate said.   
  
Will say up in bed and swung his legs over the side. He put a hand on her arm. "Don't worry about it," he said, "I'll get some for the both of us."   
  
"You sure?" Kate asked.    
  
"Of course," he said. He leaned down to kiss her forehead briefly and got up and made his way downstairs.    
  
He figured it would be easier if he went outside and made his way to the back door so as to avoid the dining room where he could hear some quiet voices conversing. When he got to the back door he opened it and shut it as quietly as possible. There was a plate of cheese laid out and a loaf of bread and a cluster of grapes. Will took a plate from the cabinet and piled it high with the food, ready to make a break for his room. He got as far as the back door before he heard some footsteps behind him. He turned around quickly to see Mary standing in the doorway to the kitchen.   
  
Mary and Will watched each other quietly for a moment, before Mary brought the plate she was carrying to the washbin and placed it in. She then turned to face Will again.    
  
"You know, sneaking around like that, folks might think you have something to hide," Mary said, raising an eyebrow.   
  
"I'm... sorry, Mary. I know we were wrong to lie," Will said.   
  
"You were wrong. You lied to all of us, and we don't take that lightly around here-" Mary crossed her arms across her chest- "But you did it for a noble reason. You did it for her."   
  
Of all the things Will thought that he would hear, that wasn't it. "I don't--"   
  
"You know there is a reason why you fooled as all so well. You don't have to be a Pinkerton agent to see how in love with her you are. And don't say it was just a ruse because you can't fake that kind of thing," Mary said, her expression practically daring him to challenge her.   
  
"I wasn't," Will said slowly.   
  
"Have you told her yet?"    
  
"Yes."   
  
"She said it back?"   
  
"No."   
  
"Well don't worry about that," Mary said, "Kate's never worn her heart on her sleeve, but I can tell. Call it a sister's intuition."   
  
"I, uh-"   
  
"You don't have to say anything. Go back to her. My parents have arranged for a carriage to take you both to the train station tomorrow morning. I'm sorry it ended this way," Mary said.   
  
"Thank you, Mary," Will said sincerely.   
  
"It was nice meeting you, Will," Mary said   
  
"Yeah, you too."   
  
With that, Will left the house and made his way for his and Kate's room.   
  


* * *

  
  
"Oh thank God, you're here. I was about to start eating the bedspread," Kate said as soon as Will entered the room. Will chuckled and brought the food over to her. Kate planted a quick kiss on his lips and then dug in.    
  
"Jesus, Kate, you're ravenous. Did you eat at all today?" Will asked, eyes sparkling with mirth.   
  
"No time. That's what I get for sleeping in. Never again," Kate said in between bites of bread.   
  
"So I'm guessing there are no lazy Sundays in our future, where all we do is make love and lounge around in our smallclothes all day," Will said, a teasing lilt to his voice.   
  
"Well, when you put it that way..." Kate leaned up and pressed her lips to his. Will cupped her cheek and deepened the kiss, only pulling away when air became a necessity, and still he kept her close.   
  
"Mmm, you're insatiable, Mrs. Warne," Will mumbled against her lips.    
  
"If I'm insatiable, Mr. Pinkerton, then you're a drowned man gasping for his next breath," Kate whispered.    
  
"Who knew you were such a poet?" Will said as he moved to press sucking kisses down her neck.   
  
"There's a lot about me you don't know," Kate said, her breaths coming heavier and heavier.    
  
"Oh, enlighten me, Mrs. Warne," Will said, moving back up the pale column of her neck. "I'd be happy to drown in you any day."    
  
Will moved the plate of food off the bed and pressed his lips to hers. They fell back on the bed, wrapped in each other's arms.   
  
×/×   
  
Kate awoke to Will nudging her softly with his shoulder. Her eyes flickered open and she gave him a sleepy smile.    
  
"Goodmorning," Kate said. She stretched her arms out over her head and felt her joints pop satisfyingly. She turned back to Will who was smiling softly at her.    
  
"What?" Kate asked.   
  
"You're just so gorgeous," he said.    
  
Kate smiled and sat up in bed. "You're not so bad yourself," she whispered as she pulled him down for a kiss. Kate felt Will sink into it for a moment before pulling back.    
  
"Kate, as much as I'd like to continue this, your parents sent for a carriage. It should be here soon," Will said.   
  
"Yeah, yeah we should get ready."    
  
Kate went to put on a dress she had brought. It was blush pink with a small cameo at the collar. She slipped on her bloomers and chemise and tied the hip roll around her waist. She then slipped on the skirt and tied it at the front and back. Finally, pulled on the shirt and buttoned it down the front.     
  
Just as she moved over to her vanity mirror to start on her hair, Kate heard a knock on the door. She glanced over at Will and then stood and walked to the door. She carefully turned the knob and pulled open the door.    
  
Caroline stood in the hallway. With a brief look at Will, Kate stepped out into the hallway and shut the door behind her. Caroline immediately hugged her.    
  
"Oh Caroline, I'm so sorry," Kate whispered.    
  
Caroline pulled away. "Don't be sorry. Ruining my own wedding was the best decision I've ever made."   
  
"What are you going to do now?" Kate asked.    
  
"Not sure. I hear a woman can get secretarial jobs in New York City."   
  
"Allan Pinkerton thought I was applying to be his secretary when I first approached him," Kate said.   
  
Caroline laughed. "He was in for a shock."   
  
"He sure was."   
  
"Kate, Mother and Father said the carriage is arriving soon. I just came to say goodbye," Caroline said, suddenly adopting a serious tone.   
  
"I'll write to you, okay? I won't just disappear again," Kate promised, taking her sister's hands and giving them a reassuring squeeze.   
  
"I know, Kate. I'll still miss you."   
  
"I'll miss you, too. No matter how old you get, you'll always be my little sister," Kate said, hugging her sister once more.    
  
"I love you, Kate."   
  
"I love you, too."   
  
"Now go on and get ready," Mary said, teary-eyed and choked up.    
  
And with that Caroline slipped away and Kate watched her leave. She turned and entered her room, wiping away a few stray tears that had slipped down her cheeks without her knowledge.    
  
Will looked curiously at her before a look of understanding passed over his face. He opened his arms, an offer of comfort that she took gladly, burying her face in his chest.    
  
"It's okay," Will whispered softly, "You'll be okay."   
  
Kate sniffled a little. "How is it possible that I want nothing more than to get the hell out of this place, but I can't stand the thought of leaving?"   
  
"I think that maybe you left before you were ready, and you never got to say goodbye on your own terms. I think, in a way, that everyone's a bit too eager to grow up," Will said quietly.    
  
"I had to leave, Will. You know that," Kate said, a bit of frustration leaking into her voice.   
  
"I know. But that doesn't mean you were ready for it. I was in a hurry to grow up, in a hurry to join the war effort, and maybe I wasn't ready for it either. Maybe none of us are really ready for it."   
  
"Maybe," Kate said simply.   
  
"Come on, let's pack up," Will said simply and Kate couldn't help but wonder if he was right.    
  
But whether or not she was ready for the world then, Kate thought as she began to brush her hair in front of the mirror, she was ready for it now. Whatever the world would bring, whatever Will would bring, she could handle it. Of that, she was sure.    
  


* * *

  
  
Kate walked down the steps, half expecting to see the house full and lively as it was only yesterday. Instead it was quiet, empty but for them and Virgil who sat on the loveseat waiting for their arrival.    
  
When he saw them approach, he stood up and gave them a sad smile. Kate put down the bag she was carrying and hugged him tightly.    
  
"God, I'm going to miss you," Kate said into her brother's shoulder.   
  
"Me too, Katie," he said as he pulled away. "Don't stay away for so long this time."   
  
"I don't exactly think Mother and Father are going to welcome me back with open arms."   
  
Virgil chuckled. "No, but I sure as hell will. You can come visit us anytime. And bring Will along with you, I'll need a hunting partner."   
  
Will stepped forward and shook Virgil's hand. "Thank you for everything," he said.    
  
"It was good to meet you, Will Pinkerton," Virgil said.    
  
"It was good to meet you, too."   
  
"The carriage is just outside," Virgil said, gesturing towards the door.    
  
"Goodbye, Virgil," Kate said.   
  
"Goodbye, Katie."   
  
With that, Kate took a deep breath and picked up her back. She linked her free arm with Will's and they made their way down the pathway to the carriage. They loaded their things onto the baggage hold and sat in their seats. With one last look at the house through the window, the driver snapped the reins and they were off. Kate turned away from the window and settled herself against Will's side. Will wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she rested her head against his chest.   
  
"You okay?" Will asked.   
  
"Yeah. I think I'll be fine," she said.    
  
"I love you, Kate. So much," Will said, kissing the top of her head.   
  
Kate's eyes filled with tears and she nodded. Nothing else needed to be said.    
  
"Will," Kate said, wiping the tears from her eyes.   
  
"Mmm?"   
  
"When we get back to Kansas City, I want you to go home with me," Kate said.    
  
"God, yes," Will said as he leaned down and planted his lips on hers. Kate sighed into the kiss and parted her lips slightly just as a yell was heard from outside the carriage.    
  
"Stop! Stop, please!" the voice said.    
  
Kate pulled away from Will and knocked on the roof of the carriage.    
  
"Stop the carriage, please, Sir!" Kate said and the carriage came to an abrupt stop. Kate opened the door  to find her mother running towards the carriage, holding her skirts.    
  
"Mama?" Kate asked.   
  
"Katie!"   
  
Kate stepped out of the carriage and was met with a crushing hug from her mother. She stood there awkwardly, not sure what to do with her arms.    
  
"I'm so sorry, Katie," Margaret sniffled, "I'm so sorry."   
  
"Mama, what--"   
  
"I was so angry that I couldn't see the fact that I can't lose you again. I don't care about the wedding, I don't care about any of it. I just want you and Caroline to be happy. I don't want to lose either of you," Margaret said, sobbing intermittently.   
  
"Does- does Father feel the same?" Kate asked hesitantly.   
  
"He'll come around, I know he will, just-- just come back, Katie. Please."   
  
Kate bit her lip and glanced back at Will, who was hanging out of the doorway, watching the scene unfold. He gave her an encouraging smile that told her that he was with her, no matter what. Kate turned back to her mother.    
  
She debated for a moment if this was a relationship she wanted to salvage. Could she take the heartache that would come with bridging the gap that had grown between them? But Kate had fought in a war, she had lost friends, a husband. She ran away from home when she was 18 and had made it on her own for more than a decade. She was the first female detective, for God sakes. She could handle anything.    
  
The driver cleared his throat. "Are we leaving or not?"   
  
Kate took her mother's hand and smiled.    
  
"It looks like we won't be needing your services after all. Sorry for the inconvenience."   
  
  
  
  



End file.
